A Fox's Spirit
by Abrogans
Summary: Needing the Kyuubi's chakra to gain a physical form - as a fox summon, really?- isn't the greatest start for a life in Konoha. Being Naruto's roommate and companion on missions on the same team as an emo kid and his fangirl doesn't make things better, either. Some villagers appreciate a dead fox. Maybe with the Chunin exam everything gets better? Just mind the snake. [slow buildup]
1. Chapter 1

Hello there. :)

Thanks for looking into my new story. I hope to update regularly, but studying might keep me from weekly updates after the first few chapters. In this fanfiction my OC comes to live with Naruto so some events will be re-telling of episodes, but I'll try and make them enjoyable and bring my own ideas into it, of course. :)

**Summary**: Needing the Kyuubi's chakra to gain a physical form - as a fox summon, really?- isn't the greatest start for a life in Konoha. Being Naruto's roommate and companion on missions on the same team as an emo kid and his fangirl doesn't make things better, either. Some villagers appreciate a dead fox. Maybe with the Chunin exam everything gets better? Just mind the snake. [slow buildup]

* * *

_6 months ago_

God is a hater. I know it, because I was minding my own business, when I suddenly felt dizzy and the next minute my body just died on me. Literally.

I still had no idea, why I died or how it happened, but the next moment I woke up, I found myself in a strange, bright space. I was surrounded by fluffy, white clouds and the sky greeted me in a beautiful baby blue. '_This must be heaven_' I thought and looked around. '_At least that describes my location_'. Underneath the cloud I was sitting on there was no way down to earth or any kind of ground visible, just more and more clouds. The same to my right, left and above me. I tried to find any other person in sight or anything that could lead me somewhere, but I was all alone on my cloud.

'_Well, now what?_' I thought again as I lend back onto my cloud after finding nothing but a blue sky. Then the wheels in my brain started to rotate and I looked down on my cloud. It was soft but solid and I still hadn't fallen through it so why shouldn't I try and jump from cloud to cloud? I stood up and analysed the distances of the nearest ones. The nearest was maybe two or three meters away so I should be able to reach it.

After hours of cloud jumping I was fucking exhausted and already made a few breaks. I was too lazy for my own good. The last cloud in front of me was grey and located maybe four meters to my right, a bit above my head. Too far away to reach it. Suddenly I felt the urge to jump and without an answer to the why and how I moved without notice. My legs pushed me up and towards the clear space in front of me. I stretched my arms to reach the grey cloud, but when my fingers tried to grab onto it, they just went through it like they would through a real cloud.

Then gravity did its part and I started falling, even through the white ones and all I could hear on my way down was myself laughing and screaming. Laughing at the poor attempt to get on the grey cloud, screaming in fear and somewhere inside of me I knew I should have jumped down a long time ago.

_Today_

"- yeah and the best thing about it is that none of you try to interrupt or question what I say. I mean it's reeeaaally nice of you, really, but once in a while I'd appreciate someone's opinion", I said with sarcasm laying in every word while I walked next to the group of men. They all had serious looks on their faces and after the next turn onto the main street I gave up talking to them.  
'_Maybe I should stop attempting to find someone to talk to?_' I asked myself and walked up to the huge gates.  
This was just the same with everybody I saw and talked to in the last 6 months since I fell from the sky. Slowly but surely me patience for this state was wearing thin.

_Epic flashback_

My way down was quite the journey, because I fell for what had to be a couple of days. When I finally saw ground coming near me or better, me falling to the ground, I actually hoped this would be the end. I was bored to death and after the first hour of screaming it began hurting my throat so I quickly stopped that. However, when I came near smashing into the ground my fall slowed down and I safely landed on my feet.

I started looking around my landing point and saw trees, big trees, small trees, pines, oaks, birches. Just trees everywhere and the sun bright in the sky. While I tried to find a way out of the forest, I suddenly felt something approaching from my right. It was still too far away to see it, but it was warm and comfortable and something inside of me wanted it.  
I REALLY wanted it, so I started moving and when it came near, I just saw a dark flash flying by in high speed. My head turned to whatever flew by a second ago and I briefly could see a man. He wore dark clothes and a green vest over them. His hair was silver-white and stood from his head as if he'd just been electrocuted. In his hands he carried some sort of scroll and a strange looking knife or dagger and his clothes were looking a bit torn and… was that blood on the vest?  
Most importantly, he seemed to carry the warm thing every fibre of my body wanted so I completely turned around and started running after him. Two minutes later I was exhausted and my lungs were burning like crazy. Not to mention the anger and desperation swelling inside my body because of his inhumanly fast speed. I wanted that warm thing he had and I knew I really needed it, but no matter how fast I ran I barely managed to keep him in sight without closing in.

A few minutes later, I felt like throwing up and as if I was suffocating due to the lack of oxygen and the uneven breaths I took. My head felt dizzy and I had to slow down.  
Grasping for air my shaking knees gave in and I felt a severe stitch. I was done for now and had to stop, deciding that I wouldn't have been able to catch up even if I ran my lungs out. I sat back against a rough tree trunk and closed my eyes, listening to my heart beat hammering in my ears.

After a longer pause my whole body started to shake because of the urge for this thing the man had. I could still feel it in front of me so I pushed myself forward step by step. With every minute I felt my body recover and the physical pain disappearing.  
In the evening I saw something big between the trees and the comfortable thing I wanted was more intense than before. I started jogging towards it and when the forest finally ended, I stood in front of a big gate with open doors. High walls surrounded a big area, which seemed to be a city and the strange warm thing I wanted was not just a huge one but divided onto many people walking around the streets. Happily I cried out in joy and when I began walking towards it, I felt my legs burn and shake again. "Damn all the running, my muscles are sore".

Curiously, I entered through the gates and looked around the many people gathering in front of bars, shops and just everywhere on the streets. They were laughing and talking, which was strange to me, because every now and then some men with the same clothes as the silver haired man I followed hours ago walked around the streets, armed to their teeth and some even carried swords. '_Maybe this is normal around here?_' I tried to make sense of it and continued to look around. Suddenly someone came out of a booth eating food and I wasn't quick enough to avoid him. I shut my eyes and waited for the impact of a collision, but there was none. Confused I opened my eyes again and saw him walking away from me as if nothing happened. Then I noticed a young woman walking past me and her arm just went through my body.

Terrified I stared after her and raised my arms looking for anything to make sense of what just happened. My whole body was shaking, but I found nothing wrong with me, my arms felt like usually.  
Right next to me I spotted a small boy eating some candy and with trembling hands I reached out to him, but just as before my hands didn't touch him and I felt like I just touched air.

My body tensed up and my thoughts started spinning. "What's going on here? Wh-Why can't I touch you", I asked out loud and grabbed into my hair like it was my sanity daring to fly away. Then I noticed something else. No one was looking at me and my words didn't reach other people either. I was standing in the middle of a lively street and I seemed to be invisible.

Obviously, I survived the shock, I had a short crisis though.  
I started to learn some things about all the things around me. First of all, the 'city' was called Konoha and it was labelled as a village. The warm and comfortable thing I wanted from the man in the woods, it was something not everybody had. At least not enough to clearly sense it or they hadn't any, which included a big number of people, and those who had more all had different intensities. The white haired man was one of a smaller group who had a very high intensity of 'it' and after following him a couple of hours I learned his name, Hatake Kakashi and he was a ninja. Being a ninja was a common thing around here and at the end of the first day I also learned that all ninjas or shinobi had more of 'it' than the civilians. Kakashi's vest indicated a rank and also him, concluding other peoples' comments, him being a good ninja.  
In my first few days in Konoha I followed Kakashi like I was glued onto his back. And let me tell you, following a high ranked ninja was a pain in the arse! Kakashi used the warm thing to walk on water and up trees like he was Jesus. Or a ninja I guess. Keeping up was tiring, strenuous and I hated climbing houses in any way possible, because I just fell off the next roof anyway. After three days of following and loosing Kakashi repeatedly I gave up on this idea.  
The warm thing ninjas used for their cool moves and techniques was called chakra and it was some sort of energy they used to perform Jutsus. Cool shit, I tell you. That I learned in my first month when I randomly stalked a kid into his school. There is spiritual and physical chakra or something like that. Shinobi were taught to keep the balance between both to perform Jutsus, walk on water or heal wounds like the medics did in the hospital. They were able to strengthen both chakras by training the body and or mind.

_Back to today_

Until now I had learned a ton of new things about this world, but why I craved chakra I still didn't really know. Maybe I was some sort of chakra-consuming entity. If I was, I could be certain that I did a terrible job as one, since I haven't absorbed any of it by now, I just couldn't. I was sure I would have died of starvation or something similar multiple times by now I was such a creature.

Now I was taking a walk through the woods, enjoying the warmth of the sun and planning my next week. Since I wasn't able to communicate with other people, interact with object or get my hands onto chakra I had to find ways to entertain myself without going insane. Playing ghost became boring within the first two weeks, running through people wasn't thrilling any more either, following shinobi took too much effort and following random people made me feel like a stalker, getting caught or not.

Animals somehow sensed my presence, but I couldn't pet them so this was shitty as well. Cats didn't seem to like me, they always hissed at me and ran away. Going to school and visiting different classes was something I wasn't bored of yet, but without being able to ask questions I sometimes couldn't keep up with the stuff they taught about Jutsus. That made me feel stupid and sometimes I got frustrated enough to just leave.  
"I guess I can go to the hospital and visit the new babies again", I said my thought out loud and shrieked when a dark voice next to me commented: "I don't know if parents appreciate some civilian looking at their new born child." I turned around in shock, realizing that whoever that was understood what I just said.

Down at my feet I saw a brown pug. He wore a Konoha Hitai-ate and wore a little blue vest. His eyes were looking at, _at_ me and I just looked back dumbfounded. "Did you... just talk to me?" I asked sceptically and started questioning my sanity. '_Was I really that lonely and desperate for any conversation that I imagined a little dog talking to me?_' Get some friends… oh, wait, I couldn't.

"If your ears are still working then yes, you heard me talk", the pug confirmed. He looked into my eyes and he still had to blink. I crotched down and asked: "You can _see_ me?"  
He huffed annoyed at the question. "Yes, I see you."

"Pakkun, who are you talking to?" came a familiar voice from above. The pug, Pakkun, and I looked up into the tree and I found Kakashi sitting on a branch, a smile appeared on my face. I liked this man. Pakkun pointed his little paw at me and said "Her" as if he just stated the most obvious thing in the world. Well, technically he did.

Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow in question. "There is nobody, Pakkun", he said in a doubting voice. The small dog huffed again and looked back at me. "Guess that's why you asked me your stupid questions." I just nodded for an answer being somewhat relieved that at least the talking dog could actually see me.  
"Are you some sort of spirit then?" At this question I opened my mouth to say no, but then I closed it again. '_Am I a spirit? I already played ghost_' I thought to myself. Pakkun noticed my hesitation. "I am one of Kakashi's ninken. Maybe that's why I can see you…"  
He suddenly howled and a moment later a couple of dogs appeared out of the bushed and trees around us. They came near, sniffing at me and poking me with their noses and paws. One big dog sniffed at my neck and when it started to tickle, I laughed and patted his head in delight. '_Fuck cats!_' "Some sort of summon I guess, but why are you invisible to humans?" Pakkun mumbled with the other dogs. I shrugged my shoulders and started patting the different dogs around me. Some hesitated at first, but then they let me touch them. I didn't care why, even if it was out of pity.  
This felt really good, having physical contact and feeling the soft fur under my fingers.

Kakashi cleared his throat and caught our attention. "What exactly do you guys see? Or who?" Pakkun looked back at me and the dogs started to briefly describe me for the ninja.  
"It's a girl."  
"Around 14 years old I guess."  
"Nah, more like 17 or18."  
"Hmm, yeah, I bet 18, too."  
"Short hair."  
"It's red."  
"Brown eyes."  
"Average height."  
"Cute puppy teeth."  
"She looks like a dachshund."  
"She doesn't smell like a dog."  
I listened to their description with interest, since I wasn't able to see any reflection in a mirror. I didn't know why, but somehow I had no idea what I looked like. At the last part of their description I just looked at them like a car. "I don't smell like a -" Before I could ask anything, their conversation continued.  
"A human", Kakashi asked and his voice waved a bit in surprise. Pakkun sniffed at my hand again. "She definitely resembles one. Smells harmless like a puppy, but she is no dog. Maybe a summon gone wrong, since she has no chakra. Girl, how did that happen?"

"I should have chakra?" I just asked back. '_Is that why I feel the need for it?_' Pakkun and the other dogs hesitantly exchanged glances. "I guess, you should, kid. We've never seen one like you… Yo, Kakashi! Do you have any idea?" Kakashi jumped down from the branch and silently landed next to Pakkun, nearly standing on my leg. His foot went through it, so it didn't matter too much. Pakkun suddenly pushed against Kakashi's legs and the shinobi fell on his backside. "Now what was that for?" he asked in confusion. "You were stepping on her leg. That's rude."

Kakashi blinked a few times, then looked at the place his ninken sat around and somehow his gaze managed to meet my eye-level. "Sorry about that." He apologized shortly. I just waves aside. "I am already used to it." Pakkun quickly looked between me and Kakashi.  
"So, you have any idea why she doesn't have any chakra or a human form?" Pakkun repeated his question and Kakashi shook his head. "No, I never heard of this before and I can't sense her either. Maybe Hokage-sama knows anything about that." The ninja suggested.

"Oh, I did see him some time ago. The old man with the large hat and the red and white clothes, right?" I beamed at this idea. In one of the earlier lessons in school the teacher explained the position of the Hokage and that he was the best and strongest ninja in Konoha. When I went to see the man in his office, I had to accept the fact that even he couldn't see me.  
His chakra intensity was very strong and warm so I just spend the day sitting next to him and enjoying the nice feeling it gave me. His schedule was packed that day and I somewhat felt sorry for him, being this busy at his age.

Pakkun nodded and said: "That's him. Let's go, Kakashi. I'll stay with you so you know where she is and what she says, alright?" Kakashi nodded and I gave the pug a big smile. Just before the other ninken left I was allowed to pat them once more and even hug Buru, the big and silent one. The other dogs said their goodbyes and with a puff of smoke they were gone.  
Kakashi started going back to the gates with Pakkun and me following. I beamed while walking being very happy to have someone to talk to and maybe even finding a solution to my problem. After six months I was getting my hopes up.

"So, do you have a name?" Kakashi broke the silence and continued to look ahead of us. I guess, since he didn't know where I was, looking at me was difficult and some way pointless.  
In the last six months I had often asked myself the very same question. When I came to myself on the clouds I knew something about myself, but since I had fallen out of the sky I remembered nothing.  
"I guess I have one, but I don't remember. And just deciding on a new one felt kind of strange", I mumbled while watching the clouds. Pakkun did his job as a messenger and Kakashi asked me a few more things about how long I was around, how I got here and some other stuff.

When we arrived at the Hokage's office the doors just opened and some men stepped outside. They all wore the green vests and I could recognize one of them as Umino Iruka, a teacher. I liked his lessons and respected his patience with the children, which I most definitely had not. At least not with the arrogant know-it-all brats, I really disliked them.

The men nodded to each other and then Kakashi entered the office. "Hokage-sama, would you maybe have a spare minute for me?" he asked politely, but sounding quite uninterested compared to the conversation on our way here. Not that he was the blooming variety of emotions, but he was clearly curious at that time.  
On a normal basis Kakashi never really showed his emotions, I had learned, as long as he didn't run into Maito Gai. Then he always seemed annoyed, but I thought it was an act, since he still took part in their eternal rivalry thing and enjoyed rubbing his victories into Gai's face.

The Hokage indicated Kakashi to come in and take a seat, which the Jonin did. "What can I do for you, Kakashi?" the old man asked and I just stood next to Pakkun who sat on the other chair. Kakashi scratched the back of his head, gave his typical eye-smile and said: "Maa, this might sound a bit strange, but-", he cleared his throat: "Well, today Pakkun found a young woman who might be some sort of failed summon in a human form and without any chakra and she is… invisible. She is in the room with us now."

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow when Kakashi paused and took a moment to process his statement. "An invisible summon in human form without chakra is in my office?" he repeated to be sure he understood correctly. Out of the mouth of the powerful man it sounded even more ridiculous. Kakashi nodded and pointed to Pakkun. "We don't think it is a Gen-Jutsu, since she doesn't have chakra to keep it up. My ninken can all see her and Pakkun agreed to be her messenger." Pakkun stood up in his chair and quickly looked at me. "Hokage-sama, we never heard of such a case before and my comrades are questioning other summons right not whether or not they have an idea what to do. Until now without success, I have to admit."

The pug sat back down and looked at me. "Sorry, kid." "It's alright", I mumbled in a grumpy voice at the ground and looked up to see the Hokage's face. My hope was dying after Kakashi mentioned my situation and the question mark had appeared on the old man's face. The man in question shortly hummed and scratched his beard.

"I am curious. Who is this 'girl'? Does she- you have a name", he asked and looked at my direction where Pakkun's gaze laid. "She doesn't remember and she doesn't seem to recognize herself either. When we described her to Kakashi, she was as curious as he was to learn about her appearance. All she remembers is walking over the clouds in the sky and falling down to earth. Never heard of anyone doing that, for sure. She arrived here six months ago and her body seems to react to chakra. Since she doesn't have any herself, I suspect her body to desire it as a result, but she can't absorb it", the ninken summarized what information we gathered in the forest.

The wrinkles on Sarutobi's forehead became visible once again. I had to admit, we somewhat overwhelmed him with all the information, but he still was the Hokage so he should be able to deal with unexpected things, right?  
"If she truly lacks chakra and is a summon without her original form, maybe we have to find someone who's compatible with her. Whenever we conclude a contract we choose a summon which can work with our chakra level, skills and fighting style. Also, the chakra has to be accurate to conjure the summon for the first time, maybe that's where it all went wrong with her. What surprises me is that you said she looks human, right? Can you describe her to me, Pakkun? This might indicate her original form." The Hokage's train of thoughts pleased me. To ask him could really be the solution to my problem.

"Of course", Pakkun quickly described me again. Then he took a second look at my mouth and added: "Oh, they might actually be short canine teeth." Sarutobi looked up with surprise in his eyes and said: "A fox, maybe?"  
"Huh? A fox? Is he talking about me?" I curiously stared at Pakkun. "Yes, he is, kid. I would have guessed a red panda or a squirrel, because of your smell. You don't seem like the cunning, sly and smart type to me and usually foxes stink, but you smell good." "...Thanks" I replied to the indirect insults. "You're welcome."

"Pakkun, would a fox be possible?", Kakashi asked trying to sound less surprised as he was. The pug huffed: "Maybe, but she doesn't really resemble one in this form. Also we didn't smell any indicator for a fox … you think about a relation to the Kyuubi?"

When I saw their reactions, I got curious. "What's that?" Pakkun took a moment and looked at both men before he answered: "Kyuubi is a deadly and very dangerous fox demon. He attacked the village twelve years ago, we had many losses. He hates humans so maybe you being a fox isn't the favourite prospect for our village." "Oh." Now I realized why the Hokage was surprised.  
"People talk about the Sora Clan of Amegakure being able to gain favour of fox summons. According to rumours their clan members have been able to obtain contracts for generations however this is only a rumour. So maybe she is harmless… after all it's more possible than someone trying to summon the sealed Kyuubi and only conjuring her, since the demon's chakra is sealed away... Spoken out loud it sounds even more stupid than in my thoughts." Pakkun drowned in his thoughts again. "Her being just another fox summon has the highest possibility. I trust Pakkun's judgement about her not smelling dangerous, but we still don't know about her origins. What should we do, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi was still sitting relaxed in his seat and waited patiently, but he couldn't completely hide the interest in his voice this time. The old man seemed to weight some possibilities against each other while drawing his pipe.  
"You said she has been in Konoha for the last six months. In this time she never hurt someone or created any danger that we know of. And your group of ninken didn't sense any danger, is that right?" Pakkun nodded affirmatively. Sarutobi mumbled something into his beard and then he laid his pipe back onto the table.

"I guess we can try to find someone with the right chakra to help her out of this state. It might take some time and considering the Kyuubi I want you to be cautious not to cause a mass panic in our village. Summon gone wrong or not, we also have to be ready to seal her away _if_ we find a matching chakra source and anything bad happens. I don't mean to insult you or imply bad intentions, but I hope you understand our scepticism." His glance directed to my location, he had an apologetic but serious expression on his face.  
"Yeah… I guess it's understandable" I just said and Pakkun passed on my reply. Then Kakashi spoke up: "Sir, do you want to let Naruto try it?"


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys. :)  
Since I already wrote the first few chapters I will upload them after checking the grammar, so one or two chapters should follow until Sunday. :)  
If you still find some mistakes, please don't rub them into my face, I am not perfect.  
I really appreciate criticism and suggestions if you have some. :)

* * *

_"Yeah… I guess it's understandable" I just said and Pakkun passed on my reply. Then Kakashi spoke up: "Sir, do you want to let Naruto try it?" _

* * *

"…I thought about it, too. After all, the boy-"

Suddenly the window flew open and a boy with blonde hair fell into the room. He wore a dark shirt, bright orange pants and he had goggles dangling from his head. When I felt his chakra, my body longed for it even more than for the men next to me. If I thought Kakashi's or the Hokage's chakra felt warm and comfortable, then this would be the greatest and softest blanket I could ever touch. "Ah, Jiji! I wanted to see you this morning, but something came up and… a civilian?"  
My expression changed from surprise to excitement. "Pakkun, the boy sees me!" I grabbed the pug and cuddled him with joy. "Oi, let go of me, kid. You are crushing me." I quickly sat him back down and turned to the intruder. He picked himself up and looked between the Hokage, Kakashi and me in question.

"Why is she so happy about seeing me? Nobody ever does…" he asked sceptical and confused with a slight hint of hurt in his voice. The Hokage cleared his throat, realizing that the slow approach was now cancelled and then offered the blonde a seat to explain the situation he just had stumbled into.

"Really, they can't see you? Really?" Naruto asked in disbelief. "But you are standing right here!" He directly pointed his hands at me. Well, this statement wouldn't help me, but it was nice that someone could see me that was no ninken. "So… you need chakra and you guys hoped that mine was compatible with your body? Why did you guys think of me?" Kakashi and Sarutobi tensed for a second and clearly searched for a logical answer.

"It doesn't really matter why. Please, let me try it" I said and Pakkun disrupted their desperation to inform them of my opinion. "You just have to touch me?" I nodded impatiently and the Hokage said: "That's what we guess."

Naruto seemed to consider his options and then carefully closed the distance between us, stretching an arm out. Before he could retreat, my body moved on its own and I hugged the boy in front of me, urging to touch the warm blanket surrounding him.  
He immediately tensed up and his eyes widened in shock.

I could feel his blue chakra flow around us, hugging me back with warm, soft arms and getting absorbed into my body. Then I noticed a change. It became impatient, wild and hot. The colour changed from blue to orange, like uncontrollable flames, and before my eyes I could see a gigantic and furious fox. It had to be the Kyuubi Pakkun told me about and holy hell was he a monster. He was looking at me with all the hate and disgust in the world, growled and clearly being unhappy, when his chakra pushed itself into me. His tails twitches in sharp movements when he looked down at me and my body felt like it was boiling from the inside.  
I felt like standing in purgatory and my nerves were becoming hyper sensitive with this flaming chakra. After a few moments I forced myself to take slow and deep breaths, somehow slowing the absorption of the hot chakra down in the same moment until the flow was steady again. It took me all the concentration I had to keep the speed down and absorb it safely. After I finally had my body back under control, I noticed the desire for chakra shrank until it disappeared.  
I slowly let go of Naruto and saw, that his eyes were shut and he looked very tired. He wasn't conscious so I carefully laid him down onto the floor.

_Kakash's view_

Kakashi's eyes widened when he saw Naruto being pulled against something he couldn't see, wrinkling the boy's clothes. Then the blue chakra started circling around him and the transparent image of the young woman Pakkun had described became apparent. She was hugging the Kyuubi's container and smiled when the chakra poured into her body. The blonde boy closed his eyes and a tired expression relaxed his body and face. '_This really seems to work_', he wondered.  
Suddenly the chakra changed to the wild and violent one of the Kyuubi and the girl's expression showed discomfort and pain. Automatically Kakashi reached for his Kunai and Hitai-ate, ready to end whatever could happen, Sarutobi getting ready for sealing away any danger. The Jonin sensed a group of ANBU encircling the office, everyone was ready to protect the village of a new fox disaster. Just when Kakashi's body tensed to attack, the chakra slowed down and it was steadily absorbed by the girl, until it completely stopped. She carefully rested Naruto's unconscious body on the ground and smiled at him, when suddenly her expression went blank and her eyes darted from side to side.

With the puff of smoke her body disappeared and instead a small fox sat on her spot on the ground. It was knee high with red and white fur and her big, brown eyes, which just looked at Naruto, were now pointed at Kakashi and the Hokage. "Did it work" asked the fox with a sceptical voice and then stared at its paws.

_Back to me_

I suddenly had to look up to see the Hokage and Kakashi and from the looks on their faces they saw me now, too. When my eyes wandered to the ground I noticed that my hands and feet were replaced by white furred paws and I was standing on four legs. My eyes widened in realisation and I tried to turn around and catch a look at my body.  
I ran in a circle and then saw two red tails with white tips waggle in front of my nose. My nose… which was a small snout with whiskers. Mentally overstrained I sat down onto my butt and looked up to Kakashi and the Hokage again.

"I am a fox. I _really_ am a fox."

Pakkun jumped down from his chair and came over to me. Sniffing he drew circles around my body and then sat down in front of me. "You still don't stink like one. Congratulations."

Kakashi then kneeled next to his ninken and checked Naruto, the Kunai still in his other hand. "He is just unconscious and his seals are steady. I guess you absorbed quite some chakra." "I'm sorry", it was more of a question, but I felt sorry for the kid. Chakra exhaustion was no joke after all.  
"Maa, don't worry. He will just have to sleep for a bit…"  
"How are you feeling? You just turned into a fox", he asked and carefully petted my head.

Getting affection felt quite good. I snuggled my head against his hand and let his scratch me for a moment. When I looked at him, I could have sworn that his expression softened for a second and the grip around his weapon had loosened.

The old man observed us for a moment and then sat back down into his chair behind his desk. "Well, it seems like we just got the solution for our first problem. Now, young lady, what do we do now that you have a physical body?" Kakashi stopped petting me, which brought him a disappointed look from me, before I sat back next to Naruto's body. I didn't need his chakra right now, but being near him still felt like being wrapped inside a warm blanket.  
I didn't want to leave this comfort. "You wouldn't allow me to stay with the boy, would you? I mean, when I took his chakra, I saw a really big and angry fox… That's Kyuubi, right?" I waited for a moment, but neither man said anything. "You said something about the demon being sealed away and including the seals on Naruto, I guess he it it's host..." Sarutobi exchanged glances with Kakashi. I basically found out about it in just ten minutes. Pakkun sighed: "Maybe you are not as stupid as I thought you are." The old man then took a deep breath and briefly explained the situation about Naruto and the Kyuubi sealed inside of him, the ban to talk about it and the villagers avoiding Naruto in fear of the fox demon.

I listened to the short history lesson and felt pity for the boy. Yes, he had this demon inside of him, but being mistreated for something the previous Hokage did was just mean. Keeping this all a secret from him and having him live alone was a dick-move as well.  
My brain started searching for a solution to my new problem. I now was a fox, the same race as the murderous destructor twelve years ago. Other fox summons existed, yes, but I just absorbed the demon's chakra and nobody, me included, knew, what I could do with it or the chakra do to me. I for my part wanted to just enjoy my life for now, since I finally had a real body. That meant I needed some place to live (Hokage-sama made it clear, that he wanted to observe me for some time) and I wouldn't mind staying near Naruto for the comfort of his chakra. Now I just had to find a good reason to get permission.

I looked back to Naruto's body and when I got a glimpse at the seals on his stomach, I got an idea.  
"Excuse me, the Kyuubi is locked up with those seals, but Naruto can theoretically use his chakra, right? Like just a few minutes ago. Could yo do something similar to me, too? You restrict the chakra in my body and I can use a limited amount to live my life and you can be sure, that I won't try something bad." I suggested and prayed to any god that could hear me for help.  
After the excitement of having a solid body, I remembered the image of the fox and the change in chakra again. I didn't want to end up like that thing, ignoring the fact that he was locked inside a child's body so a seal to prevent this would also benefit me.

The Hokage leaned back into his chair and the spoke up: "You are asking me to limit a summon's chakra with a seal? It would be possible, I guess, but as you might understand by now, having a fox summon next to Naruto in Konoha is a touchy subject, even after twelve years. If you really want to stay here, they might fear the Kyuubi's seals could break and I don't want to risk a mass panic."

'_Shit, shit, shit! __Damn__ you, fox demon!_' I cursed inside my head. I didn't want to leave the village. Well, the Hokage already said that he wanted to observe me, but I wanted to _live,_ not just exist somewhere they could see my every movement.  
Fear of rejection emerged inside of me and pressed my whole body against Naruto's side for comfort. "Can we do something to show them that I mean no harm? I could try to stay away from public places or wear a big ribbon or something to look harmless. Or I let you put more seals on me. Just something that conveys the village that I mean no harm?" My mind rattled to find an answer. There was no way that the after effects of the fox would complicate my life any further!

It felt like hours, sitting next to the blonde boy and waiting for one of the men to speak.  
Finally, Pakkun cleared his throat and suggested: "If I may share an idea? … how about the seal for chakra restriction and a Hitai-ate?" His little paw nudged his own protector. "Some summons wear it to show that we are loyal allies or even friends. And if she lives with Kakashi, she is under constant surveillance and then she maybe even can go outside." Oh, how I loved this pug!

The old man took a deep breath and with a small smile he said: "I think this would be a good idea, Pakkun. I wouldn't just want to ban you from our village. We don't know what you are capable of, yet, which could become a danger." '_Wow, thanks..._' "Kakashi, what is your opinion? I would like to keep her observation in capable hands for the first few weeks and let her stay with you for this time."

Kakashi scratched his head and gave his iconic eye smile. "Maa, Hokage-sama. Aren't you giving me too much credit? I don't want to deny any requests, but always having her around me might be difficult when I go on missions and I also have a new one starting tomorrow. Wouldn't ANBU be the better choice?" I raised a brow at his comment. Sure, just becoming the burden of someone else wasn't my dream either, but he could be a less direct about his displeasure.  
"And where should I live? At the shelter" the words left my mouth before I could stop myself and I couldn't hide the fact that I was pissed, too.  
Kakashi gave me a rebuking glare and I had to count to ten to calm myself down. He wasn't to blame for the situation I was in, but so was I. I didn't decide to stumble into Konoha as a fox undercover and I wasn't at fault for the villagers' fear of foxes. '_Who the fuck creates such a stupid scenario?_'

The Hokage's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. "Young lady, you can stay with Naruto for now like you requested, but at first I will seal your chakra and also let ANBU monitor your actions. They will follow you around, discreetly of course. This is not to imply any bad intentions on your part, I just need to be careful. I doubt it, but if you two don't get along, we will have to find another solution. I think the boy needs some company, before his pranks paint the whole village blue." He let out an amused chuckle. "We can easily convince him to agree with us. He actually asked for my permission to get a pet since he started living on his own."  
"I will be his pet?" I frowned at the thought of the boy dragging me to his friends or trying to teach me tricks. Oh, wait… he didn't have any friends. '_I have to think about it from a different, positive perspective_.'  
I would have a place to live, someone to talk to who might need a good conversation and company as much as I did and I would be allowed to stay. Now that was as positive thinking.

"Deal!" I said quickly before the Hokage could change his decision and I beamed up with joy, happily smiling at Pakkun and Kakashi and bowing at the Hokage. "Thank you. I will behave and not cause any trouble!" I vowed with a paw to my heart. Maybe I would like Naruto after we'd get to know each other.

When the Hokage nodded, I jumped at the pug and pushed him playfully into his side. He just grunted but smiled for a second. "Kakashi! I can stay!" I felt like celebrating this moment. I tackled the Jonin and rubbed my face against his. Not that I wasn't a bit petty inside about him not wanting me around him, but I was too happy to be mad at him.

The Hokage pulled out a jar of ink and a brush and started drawing small signs for a seal inside my ears. When he activated them, it did hurt and felt like someone was tearing at or crushing them. Luckily this only took some seconds and afterwards I could feel a steady burn as if I pierced my ears. I could definitely feel, that the chakra in my body was a lot weaker now, but I didn't feel nearly as powerless as I did when I was invisible.

Naruto woke up some minutes after we finished all the precautions and I signed a legal contract for living in Konoha and with Naruto under some conditions with my paw and some ink. The old man told Naruto about my successful transformation and the idea of me being his pet to stay in Konoha. He did this without mentioning the Kyuubi once and the I allowed the boy pet me. Then Hokage-sama told the kid that 'his pet' had the intellectual mind of a human so he should remember that.  
The door opened and a man with an animal mask entered the room, carrying a Hitai-ate with the Konoha symbol on it. Kakashi took it and tied in around my neck. When he stood back up and the men looked at me, I proudly raised my head for them to see the protector. Just a couple of hours ago I was walking through a forest all alone and now I was an official citizen of Konoha.

Naruto liked the idea of keeping me around like the Hokage predicted and after he mentioned my probation and surveillance a third time for the boy, we were allowed to leave the building.  
Sarutobi was right about the villagers. Those who crossed our path turned as white as a sheet and hurried to get away from us. Maybe walking around the streets wouldn't be the best idea for the next few days. We climbed onto the roof of the nearest building and made our way to Naruto's apartment.

In the first few minutes talking with Naruto I concluded that the blonde was kind but very loud, which could become a bit annoying.  
He already made plans to let me sleep in his bed and that we could take walks through the village and park and cuddle. 'Jesus_, I will really be a pet._' I tried to accept my fate for now. I would definitely have to erase the idea of a normal pet out of his head.  
Admitting that I actually enjoyed his cuddles, I wouldn't just let everyone do it. It was like a normal person wouldn't want a stranger to step into their personal space and touch them. When we reached an apartment complex, I stopped at the gate. "Naruto, do you think this will work?" I asked sceptically. After all Naruto was the Kyuubi's container and I also had his chakra inside of me, sealed or not. People could start making problems, excluding their past behaviour towards Naruto.  
The boy went quiet for a moment and then said: "You don't really want to be near me, huh?" I saw the hurt in his eyes. It reminded me of a kicked puppy and I got agry about the villagers avoiding and hating him in fear of the demon. Seeing the boy clench his hands into fists with a hurt expression, I suddenly felt like a bad person. '_Oh no. I don't want to make a child cry_' I thought. Hesitantly I looked around us, not knowing what to do. '_Shit, shit ,shit!_' Leaning onto my back legs and putting my front paws against Naruto's chest, I rubbed my head against his neck. "Sorry, Naruto. I am just worried I have to leave the village. I have no problem staying with you."  
Naruto buried his face in my fur and hugged me for a second. That was some good damage control I could be proud of.

We climbed the stairs to his apartment in a more comfortable silence and when Naruto unlocked his door and pushed it open for me to get inside, I saw a mess of clothes, empty cup ramen and some other rubbish. '_Oh, right, he is living alone at his age_'. The blonde started to blush. "I didn't know anyone would visit me, otherwise I'd have cleaned my room." "Nah, don't sweat it", I brushed it off and went inside.

Naruto managed to clean his whole apartment in under two hours and when he sat down onto his bed, I secretively was glad he did it. In the last six months I would have categorized myself as an unorganized person, too, but I actually liked the cleaner environment better. The sun was going down and Naruto went to take a shower while I rolled myself up into a big fur ball on his pillow. '_What an exhausting day..._', I thought to myself and doze off with the steady sound of the shower in the background.  
When Naruto came back wearing his pyjamas I was nearly asleep already. The boy carefully wrapped his arms around me and moved me from his pillow. I grunted at the disturbance but immediately snuggled up to him when he laid down next to me and covered both of us with his blanket. His chakra was like a happy drug for me.

"Say, do you really not have a name?" he suddenly asked in the dark. I slowly opened one eye and gave an agreeing hum. There was a short silence before Naruto spoke again: "Do you want to have a name?" I lifted my head and looked at him with all the attention I could give him in my half-asleep state. "You want to give me a name?" Naruto nodded and said: "How do you like Tenko?" As he mentioned the name, I felt myself grin. '_Tenko, really?_' "You basically want to call a fox after a fox", I asked with humour in my voice. "They are the strongest foxes in old folklore and they can kick ass." I laughed after hearing his explanation. '_Oh the irony… if you just knew_' I thought and felt myself grin widely. "I like it. Tenko it is." I buried my head back into the warm blanket and allowed Naruto to pull me closer with an arm around my belly.

* * *

**Have a nice weekend :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Here is the third chapter.

Enjoy :)

* * *

The next couple of weeks I lived with Naruto were really great after the rumour of a new fox summon spread around the village and the Hokage had to explain that I was peaceful and allowed to live in Konoha. I was sure he used those nice and reassuring words loosely to prevent a mass panic, since the ANBU still followed us until now, but it seemed to work and the villagers trusted their Hokage enough to just ignore or avoid me.

Naruto could be really annoying sometimes, being loud and clumsy and just running around like a headless chicken. This was as annoying as entertaining I had to admit. Sometimes I just watched him and laughed at him or the people around us not knowing how to react to the blonde boy.

I noticed that my desire for chakra had completely disappeared since I lived with Naruto for a whole month. Maybe being around him was enough to refuel the little portions I needed from time to time. Who knows? My room mate also started to notice that I was no fan of too much cuddling and a daily input of ramen. When he heard some people talk about the health risks for animals to eat to much of the dish, Naruto went out and bought me food. Dog food in a can.

I knew Naruto did it in the best intention so I just appreciated his good will and ate it. After a week I accustomed to the taste and actually got to like it. I never complained, since I was too glad to still live in Konoha and also I didn't know what foxes ate in the first place.  
Naruto was really impressed when I started using the toilette, because I didn't like the thought of shitting in some corner of the park and even worse: having Naruto next to me to pick it up in a poop bag.  
When we took a stroll through the village Naruto started to put me on a leash. It was an idea from Pakkun (more like a joke from Kakashi) to make me look less threatening. The blonde and me didn't like their idea, but Naruto still bought a black leather leash and a similar collar with spikes. After I ranted about his shopping trip, he obediently went to change it to a normal, blue one.  
Once a rude woman took a walk with her ugly dog and insulted us on the streets as filthy animals. Naruto just said: "Well, at least my girl is house-trained and goes to the toilette. You have to pick up poop." Not the greatest argument, but most definitely a funny one with great reactions.

On the weekends Naruto and I played all day, ran around the village or trained to be a ninja. This was all Naruto's idea, I wouldn't have thought about jumping from tree to tree like a monkey or throwing weapons against targets as fun. This was exhausting! Whenever Naruto caught me just laying in the grass and dozing off he put me on the leash and dragged me along, ignoring my curses and lamentations. When I was laughing at his miserable attempts to repeatedly hit the bullseyes while he threw Shuriken and Kunai into all directions instead just the targets, he made me help to collect them out of the ground or the bushes. Since I was a parasite to his chakra and living in his apartment, I allowed him to commend me around from time to time.

Naruto wanted to become Hokage to be respected and recognized by everyone. When he told me about his dream in our first week together I was ready to bite calves. How dare those people, making Naruto feel this desperate for attention and recognition. No child should ever feel this way!

Once a ninja tried to attack me, when Naruto wasn't near while practising, but luckily the observing ANBU stopped the man. After this incident I made up my mind to find a way to secure my safety. I also decided to help Naruto live his dream by supporting him as his summon. I had made this decision after he came home one day looking really down. Some boy had purposely destroyed Naruto's bag with his Shuriken and Kunai after hearing about the blonde's dream, knowing that he couldn't just afford new equipment.  
This was also a good way to be safe in the future. Who in their right mind would just attack the Hokage's summon, right?

When Naruto had school he went out before me, always preparing some dog food on a plate and coming back in the noon. Sometimes he told me about school, his classmates or some pranks he played on his way home. A few times he came back after the sun went down when he and a few classmates were kept in after school for pulling a prank, sneaking out or sleeping in the lessons. I usually stayed in his apartment, not really wanting to walk around the village alone so I read some books Naruto stored in his small storage room, their existence long forgotten, I played board games against myself or I chewed with the stuffed teddy bear Kakashi send me with an ANBU. I assumed this to be a small joke hinting to me trying to be a harmless pet. I wouldn't allow Kakashi the small mockery and one day I intentionally carried the teddy around, smelling Kakashi near by, while taking a walk on the blue leash.  
Since the fabric was strong I could chew and pull on it and actually got to like my present. Some days I really felt like a pet with its toys, canned dog food and leash, but if I didn't want to cause problems and leave Konoha, I sure as hell behaved that way.

I could finally see myself in the mirror as a fox and I thought of myself as a pretty one. My fur was shiny and soft, the red colour was bright and vibrant, flowing around the white parts on my body like flames. A small line of fur over my eyes was white so it looked like I had eyebrows and they also moved with my expressions. My eyes were a deep brown with a few green spots in them and since I was a fox I was pleased to notice that I had a really, really good sight. I could see in the dark without problem and notice the smallest pebbles on the street from the window.  
My tails were long and fluffy and the white tips reminded me of paintbrushes. One time Naruto spilled some paint for a practical joke he prepared for some teachers at his school and one tip of my tail was blue for a whole week. At first I was a bit petty, but I forgave Naruto when he gave me a bath with some nice smelling shampoo. The poor boy treated me like a princess for the whole day.

Also, my sense of smelling was really sensitive. Not as good as Pakkun's, who visited me once with his pack to play in the forest and taught me about chakra, but it was still better than any normal dog or other animal that was no summon.  
This was the same with my sense of hearing. I could eavesdrop onto conversations from over twenty meters away without trouble if I wanted to, but most of the time I ignored all the voices before I got a headache.

Today I was sitting on the floor of Naruto's apartment chewing on my teddy's legs and imagining it to be our rude neighbour below our apartment, when I heard the voice of Iruka-sensei coming near the building. '_Why is he here? He never came over this early before_' I thought to myself and listened to his voice: "Really Naruto, why do you always have to skip classes and play pranks on everyone? You want to pass the academy in a few weeks and your chakra control is as poor as a toddler's. Your grades aren't any better. Do you want to stay in school for another year?"

I pricked up my ears. What did the man just say? Naruto was at risk of failing the Genin exam? He never told me about that, little brat.  
The door was pushed open and I looked at the two of them, teddy still in my mouth and attentive eyes on the Chunin. He stopped at the door frame and looked back at me in silence. Naruto didn't notice or just didn't care and came over to pet my head. "Oi, Tenko. How are you doing?" I let the teddy fall to the ground and looked up to meet Naruto's eyes. "You are too bad to pass the exam, really?" I raised an eyebrow and saw the boy flinch back at the question. He started scratching his head, a tell that he was embarrassed and stuttered an explanation. I just shook my head and sighed. "We talked about this, Naruto. If you want to become Hokage you have to go to school and study. I am very sorry, Iruka-sensei. He will attend to his classes from now on." I bowed my head at the Chunin. Since I was mentally older than Naruto I had started to make some rules or comment on his behaviour. One of the things were a scolding about the boy's grades. The teacher finally reacted. "My, don't stress yourself. After all you are his summon, not a parent", he said and I could clearly hear the hesitation.

Iruka was old enough to remember the Kyuubi's attack twelve yours ago and maybe he even lost someone he knew to the demon. After a month he still was a bit hesitant when he met me. I thought and tried to think of something to make me look more harmless. Once I tried it with a grin, but that had the opposite effect and the man just left. Iruka knew about my conditions to live in Konoha and that I ignored my pride to walk on a leash when I was on the streets and also that Naruto basically treated me like a pet.  
My gaze wandered down to my teddy with his big round eyes. Those things are considered cute. "Do you want to pet me?" My question threw him of track and he blinked in surprise. "Excuse me?" I went to him and rolled myself onto my back, stretching my vulnerable tummy at him. "Would you mind petting me?" Now I just had to look like the nicest, most harmless puppy in the world. '_Just don't grin again._'  
The Chunin took a moment, but then he crotched down and carefully stroked my belly. I made a purring noise, something I copied from the street cats in hope of getting more people to feel at ease when meeting me. With Iruka it seemed to work, since he started scratching behind my ears with his free hand, his eyes inspected the seals tattooed into them.

"Traitor", Naruto grunted and crossed his arms in front of him chest. I giggled at his attempt to pout and Iruka couldn't suppress a laughter. "Now, I take your word, Tenko-san. Make sure he comes to school by tomorrow." He stood up and left with a smile.  
Naruto just sunk on his bed and grumbled some incoherent words. I looked up from my position, still in my back and thought about a good strategy to keep my word to Iruka. "Naruto, wanna go visit the Hokage? I think our ANBU needs to exercise since he's been on the roof for six hours straight." An evil grin spread on my lips.

Now I had the boy's undivided attention and he nodded enthusiastically. "Sure, we can race to his office. The looser has to clean the bathroom", he shouted and stormed through the opened window. I ran after him and in the corner of my eye I saw a shadow follow us on the roofs. We raced over the buildings and I had to admit that Naruto was fast. Not as fast as Kakashi, but for his age and body he was good. I speed up and quickly reached Naruto and overtook him. Fair to say, I didn't use full speed on him, but he would still complain later.

We went up the stairs and Naruto tried catching his breath. "You did that on purpose, dattebayo!" I grinned into his face and chirped: "It was your idea to bet. Not my problem if you have to clean the bathroom." Finally at the end of the stairs Naruto went up to the office door and opened it. "Naruto, you have to knock! Maybe Hokage-sama has a meeting" I scolded, but suddenly an ANBU stood in the door frame. Behind him I could see Sarutobi in his chair and our surveillance ANBU standing next to him. As much as he hid it my fox ears could still hear his breathing being the slightest bit heavier than normal. I allowed myself a short grin and the old man allowed us inside.

"What can I do for the two of you", he asked in a calm voice and leaned back into his chair. I have been visiting him twice a week since I started living with Naruto to tell him about my day, feelings and whatever I wanted to tell him. He didn't really had to ask me over since the ANBU reported back to him every day, but I thought it was a nice gesture.  
"Hokage-sama" I greeted him. "I wanted to ask for your permission to escort Naruto to school and keep him company in his classes. Iruka-sensei mentioned his risk to fail the exam so I'd like to ensure this airhead to get an education." Naruto wrinkled his nose at the thought of actually having to study, but since he didn't complain I guessed he liked the thought of us going there together.

Sarutobi nodded a few times, humming in consent and I could see a light smile on his lips. "I like that idea. Naruto, I hope you _behave well_ with your friend joining you in school" he said with a steady voice and both of us could literally hear the words '_Don't do anything stupid, __both of you_'.  
Naruto beamed at the Hokage's words, picked me up and wrapped his arms around my belly to hug me. "Don't worry, Jiji! They will love her!"

* * *

The next day both of us woke up early, Naruto taking a shower and eating his cup ramen which I did not approve of, but I couldn't cook either. Then Naruto took a brush and combed my fur while I ate the dog food. '_He really wants his classmates to like me, I guess_'. I never met one of them on the streets and no one really came over to visit, except for Iruka-sensei. When he finished I felt pretty and Naruto tied the Hatai-ate around my neck. In the evenings he always took in of after I complained about it pressing into my neck when I slept.  
Together we took off half an hour before school starts, which was a real development for Naruto. He always ran out of the apartment in the morning only having a few minutes and often being late. We slowly walked down the streets and looked at the few people taking care of their business. Naruto was clearly nervous and a bit excited and his hand often stroke over my head. He often did it when he was unsure of himself or needed something to do so I allowed him to stress-pat me all the way to his school. '_Aren't I the best pet_' I asked myself with an ironic grin.

When we entered the school yard, many eyes were fixed on us, mostly parents and boy, did they charge their hateful glares. '_Did I really expect something different_' I rhetorically asked myself again, followed Naruto into the building and through the hallways into a classroom.  
Seven months ago I had been here the first time and listened to the lessons. It was the classroom of the graduation class and now Naruto and his classmates were here. Maybe I never saw Naruto before, because he always skipped out. He sat down on a seat at the windows and I sat next to his feet.

Some students entered after us and I recognized them. Well, they _were_ at school when I joined their classes in my invisible state, which was no real accomplishment. One of them was the lazy boy, Shikamaru and his friend Choji. I liked the boys from what information I gathered before. They had relatively grounded characters and didn't seem rude. They also sometimes spent time with Naruto and had played with him when they were younger. After them followed a few other students and in the middle of a group of girls I saw a girl with long blonde hair in a pigtail. I flinched back when I saw her and ducked under Naruto's legs. She was one of the more crazy fangirls of that stupid Uchiha boy. Blindly worshipping every fart he made and being happy when he ignored them or even insulted their behaviour. I would hate having so many creepy girls constantly around me as well, but he was the next level of a dickhead. A few visits to their class later I found out that Ino could actually be nice, that really happened. Sadly, she and the other girls became stupidly incompetent to use their social skills, when they saw prince charming.

… Speak of the devil. The dark haired emo kid went inside and sat down two rows in front of us. Urgh, I really didn't like this arrogant prick. Immediately the girls hovered around him like mosquitoes and when the Uchiha frowned, I grinned gloatingly. Naruto grumbled something under his breath and I was pretty sure those weren't praises about the brat's hair. But who was I to care.  
The door opened again and the pink haired girl, Sakura, joined the other girls in a heartbeat. Naruto's eyes began shinning bright like the sky when he saw her and realization hit me like a truck. '_Fuck, he likes her._' Was brainwashing illegal?

The blonde boy went over to her and I carefully followed him, avoiding the stomping feet of the fangirls. "Ne, ne, Sakura-chan. I want you do meet m-". "Naruto, shut up! Don't you see that I am busy, you idiot", the girl barked at the blonde. All expressions slipped from my face before anger bubbled and boiled inside of me. "Who do you think you are to be rude like that. You goat!" I growled at her.

The girls'r eyes were fixed on me and I had to suppress the urge to grin. Pinky's expression was the best after being insulted by a fox.  
She had something to write into her diary for sure, that brain-dead excuse of a girl.  
Yes, Naruto was able to annoy others. Yes, he sometimes challenged my patience. But hell no, that socially crippled, ugly fangirl was not allowed to be mean to him! She wasn't really ugly, but her behaviour just made an old witch look like a beauty queen next to her character.  
The noise of someone clearing his throat pulled me out of my mental lexicon of insults.  
Iruka-sensei stood in the door frame and gave me a scolding look. He knew about the Hokage's permission of me _peacefully_ joining classes. I lowered my ears and looked to the ground. "But I am right", I mumbled petulantly under my breath. The Chunin send everybody to their seats and I obediently followed Naruto back to his seat.

"Good morning, everyone. Well, as you all noticed, we have a new… face around here. This is Tenko, a summon who will join us from now on. Please get along with each other." Iruka completely ignored what just happened and started his lesson.  
I, for my part, buried my face under my paws and wanted to sink into the ground. '_Hokage-sama, I failed you. Please forgive me_' I thought and after twenty minutes I slowly recovered from my performance.  
'_I guess I have to add 'a bit protective' to my personality traits_'.

Naruto was unusually silent for the period and I was sure it was my fault. He was already hated by the villagers, avoided by his peers and now I insulted his crush. '_She deserved it, but still, I insulted her. Maybe I should apolog- hell no, she had to do it!_' I let out a silent snort.  
Then Iruka changed the topic from seals to summons (_I bet he did it on purpose_) and I started to pay attention to the principle of contracts and that one conjures the summon from another dimension. '_I've never been anywhere else since I fell down the clouds and I also don't have a contract_' I thought about myself. After all I guess you couldn't describe my existence as anywhere normal.

"- and since today we have a summon with us, why don't we let her tell us something about herself?" Iruka finished his sentence and looked at me with an inviting smile. Now, I liked the principle of teaching with actual prove and things to touch, but I hadn't considered the possibility that I could become the living example or get asked anything by children. '_I should have practised an introduction before I went to bed yesterday._'

Slowly, very slowly I walked to Iruka and sat next to him. All eyes were on me, Naruto gave me a bright smile with a thumbs up and my heart feel a lot lighter. Until I looked at Sakura's face sending me death glares. Best buddy would certainly not become our relationship status.

"Hello, my name is Tenko. I am a fox summon…" I felt like being at a self-help group. Since my first contact failed, maybe I would be able to still look friendly? "I am living with Naruto and I will become partners with his team after graduation. It's nice to meet you all." '_God, that was lame!_' I tried to hide the discomfort in my voice and felt nervous all over again.  
Suddenly a big hand petted my head and I looked up to see a smiling Iruka. '_My knight in shining armour came to help me!_'  
I gladly cuddled against his hand and let him pet me for a moment longer than necessary. Maybe he wanted to help me look nice and cute?  
"Great, now does anyone have a question for Tenko-san?" Back in teacher-mode Iruka asked his students. '_Oi, oi, I didn't agree to that. Of all the summons I am the least capable to answer __anything_' I thought and tensed up for a second. '_Don't worry and take a deep breath. You __need__ them to __accept__ you, remember that!_'

A boy raised his hand and said: "You said you are living with Uzumaki, right? Are you really his summon with the contract and all?" I looked into his eyes only recognizing curiosity. Wow, the best question was first... "Yes, I am his summon, but we don't have a contract like Iruka told you about. We didn't need one." I said searching for the easiest explanation. This was difficult, since I still had no idea how and why I was this different or why I had a human form before changing into a fox.  
Some students started mumbling to each other and then the annoying Ino-girl asked: "What do you mean, you didn't need a contract?"

Shit, a good question. My brain worked through my memories of the last seven months, but I couldn't find a good answer or something to say without indicating my own cluelessness. "This is something, the Hokage forbid her to talk about. Whether ninja or summon, some things have to be kept secret for ones safety" Iruka announced like it was common knowledge.  
I looked up and was sure my eyes were heart shaped. _'Iruka, my saviour. I love you for eternity!_'

Then Sasuke-baka let out a snort and when I heard his wanna-be bored and emotionless voice, I was ready to vomit on his shoes. "You really want to tell me, that the dope is skilled enough to have a summon?"  
Naruto immediately jumped in his seat and started sending death glares. "Teme! I am a super cool and skilled ninja who will be Hokage! Of course I would have a cool summon!"  
"Yes, yes. Calm down, both of you", Iruka said with a strict voice but fondness in his eyes and I looked into the emo's eyes. "You should know that I don't appreciate _anyone_ insulting my contract partner. I ensure you, nobody_ except_ Naruto is able to become my partner. So stop looking down on other people." I said in a calm voice and actually enjoyed describing Naruto as special from the bottom of my heart. The class then saw the nicest and cutest smile I was able to do without looking creepy and I cuddled back against Iruka's legs.

"Thank you for answering their questions this… truthfully" he said and I could hear the irony in the last word. "You are welcome" was my reply, I went back to Naruto and this time rolled up inside his lap. '_Thank god that is over!_' He stroke my brushed fur and we survived the next lesson without any interruption.  
At lunch Naruto searched through his bag for the candy he packed today. Usually I didn't allow him to replace a meal for candy, but he bribed me so I complied.

My eyes twitched to the boy with the dog on his head. Kiba and Akamaru. The dog had looked at me a few times and in the second lesson the both of us (or three of us including Kiba) were trying to smell each other across the room. When Naruto noticed my behaviour, he stood up and went through the room towards Kiba. "Come on, we go talk to them", he shooed me towards them.

I took hesitant steps and eyed them when we came closer. Kiba sniffed the air again and started to grin. "You don't smell like a fox, you know?" I nodded. "So I heard." Akamaru gave a high pitched bark and I sat next to them. God was the puppy cute. Kiba told me a bit about himself and Akamaru and their fighting style. It was really interesting. The puppy slid down from Kiba's head into his lap and I reached my head out to greet him. Our noses nudged against each other for a moment and then Akamaru licked over mine. The little guy was just lovely! I felt myself smiling and suddenly the dark haired girl with the soft looking jacket was standing next to us. I had to think for a moment about her and then remembered, Hyuuga Hinata.

"Y-you are really cute, Tenko-chan" she said very quiet but with delight in her voice. I quickly looked at Naruto for reassurance and then met her gaze. My chance to socialize was now! "Thank you. Do you want to pet me?" The girl immediately was down to her knees and started to pet and cuddle me. '_Victory!_' I said to myself and snuggled my head against hers. From the information I gathered the past half year she was a shy but very gentle girl so I wouldn't mind her affection. The hands petting me grew in number and after a minute I had yet another girl and one Kiba cuddling and petting me.  
'_Thank Iruka for telling me about Naruto skipping school and the Hokage for allowing me to be here. No, screw them. Thank Naruto for skipping his classes!_' Sometimes I could be a bitch for physical contact.

When I opened my eyes I saw Naruto awkwardly standing on the side and looking at his classmates around me. He wasn't sure how to approach the small circle. The mother hen in me ignored the hands in my fur, I stood up and with a short run-up I jumped against Naruto's chest. He quickly caught me in his arms and had my tails in his face.  
I wasn't the biggest animal but to be carried could be a problem for children's arms. "Are you okay" I asked Naruto who tried to get his face out of my fur. He puffed and blew my tails away while securing his arms around me. "Yeah, I am alright. Don't worry." I accepted his words for now and looked back to the girls on the ground. Before any of us could say anything the door flew open and the next teacher announced the end of our lunch break.

For the rest of the week I peacefully went to school with Naruto, helped him with his studies at home and allowed his classmates to pet me in the lunch breaks, only selected individuals of course.

In the second week I also started to talk more to Naruto's male classmates and it helped my blonde friend, too, to have conversations with everyone around us. Kiba started sitting next to us frequently, so Akamaru and I could sit next to each other and get petted by the puppy's owner. Naruto nearly minimized pulling pranks on the teachers or other villagers and since he didn't skip school any more, his grades actually went up. After fifteen days of studying he actually managed to get into the top 12 in his class. This means he is in the top 48%, but who counts, right?  
It was just maths, since all subjects were his weaknesses, but at least he got better.

On the weekends we still played and trained together, which to me meant to figure out how I could fight or just copy Akamaru's movements.  
This didn't work out for me, since Kiba's fighting style was based on working with his partner and Naruto always had to do this stuff alone. Also I really sucked at any form of Taijutsu.  
Somehow I had to find a way to support Naruto in a fight, even if it meant to use the Kyuubi's chakra.

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I hope you like my story so far.  
:)


	4. Chapter 4

_H__ere is the new chapter. :)_

_I want to remind you, that I am going for the slow approach in my story. My preference has always been on fanfics which take their time to introduce the reader to the character and to not hurry the story too much. And for my story to make just some sense later on, I really need a good dozen chapters for more than just the happy day-to-day life from Naruto and Tenko.  
But enough of this, enjoy the new chapter. :)_

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Today was Sunday and Kiba had the brilliant idea that the four of us to train together. It was still very early, but I was really excited about us sparring together so I got up as quiet as I could, not to wake Naruto while wiggling out of his arms. Every night he hugged me and wouldn't let go. In my book this sometimes was annoying but very cute too and I could also sleep great with his chakra near me.  
Now I went into the bathroom to the big bowl of water Naruto prepared for me. I couldn't turn knobs or use the sink, which made me very dependable on this part (I hated it), but Naruto didn't mind and just started to put the bowl onto the ground. I dipped my paw into the cool water and started combing my fur clean. Typically, animals would use their tongue, but I wasn't a big fan of having fur in my mouth.

After cleaning myself up I went to the window over Naruto's bed and sneaked out to the roof.

Today's ANBU was sitting next to the chimney, as usually, when I jumped up and greeted him. The first few times I did this I actually surprise the ANBU on duty (it only worked once with every ANBU), now I just tried to start a conversation, but most of them never really said anything.

The ANBU always sat on our roof when I was home and the first time I noticed them a month ago, I was a bit shocked about their hiding skills, since I hadn't perceived them before, despite my senses being exceptionally good if I may say so myself. Over the last few weeks I actually managed to sense them with my awesome fox summon abilities.  
The ANBU assigned to my surveillance wore the bear mask, division for protection and investigation, so I had been surprised to notice one ANBU wearing a cat mask. I asked Pakkun about the different ANBU masks and he had explained the different divisions and what they were specialized in.  
As I mentioned, the bear division specialized in protection and investigation, understandable. The cat division though, they existed for the fields of stealth and assassination, a fact I didn't like at all. I once asked the Hokage if he was afraid of me killing someone, the only logical explanation I had for the cat masked ANBU. That day the old man didn't confirm, but he also didn't deny it. I just had to accept the fact, that the cat ANBU would be around me and as long as I was no threat, I doubted to get killed by that man.

Today I saw the ANBU with the cat mask again, I liked him. He always greeted back and sometimes he even petted my head. Today was one of the lucky days.  
"I bet, the world will end in a minute", I mumbled under my breath and when I smelled his body stressing a bit at my statement, I quickly explained: "Ah, I said it because today is such a great day, you know? Naruto and I are meeting his classmate today to spar a bit _and_ you are assigned to us today and since you are by far my favourite ANBU I thought that those are too many good things for one day."

The ANBU just nodded and relaxed again. I couldn't see it but his smell changed again. "Do you know, how much longer you have to look after me? Hokage-sama started the surveillance over a month ago and in our last meeting he seemed very pleased with my 'development', you know? You can still come and visit me after this, though. I wouldn't mind", I babbled and stretched my body over his lap.  
It took me nearly two and a half weeks for him to allow me to do that, since he was ANBU and just here to monitor my actions. In secret I knew he liked it, I could smell it. He started petting my head again, which most definitely was a first. He never petted me twice or more than a greeting. '_The world will end, I am sure of it._'  
I still enjoyed it, since I still loved affection from the right people and he was my favourite ANBU.

We sat on the root for nearly half an hour when I could hear Naruto waking up and yawning. "Naruto is waking up, guess I'll go back. Have a nice day, Neko-ANBU", I said happily and went back through the window.  
"Good morning, my little ray of sunshine. How are you?" I sung purposely loud and too friendly. Typically he always woke me up with his loud voice, when he had no school and decided that I didn't need any more beauty sleep. Naruto started to open his eyes and took a second to process those sentences. Then he remembered something and jumped out of bed. "Today we meet up with Kiba and Akamaru!" He ran into the bathroom and started to get ready. Watching the boy getting dressed while running around was always fun and I shamelessly laughed, when he hopped around the bed while struggling to get his pants on. "It is still early, Naruto. We aren't late. You will just break your neck."  
He looked up and his toothbrush nearly fell out of his mouth when he said: "But I want to practice this stupid clone Jutsu we have to do for the exam next week. I am still too bad at it." I had to admit, I was impressed with his enthusiasm.

Naruto got ready and we walked through the streets. The air was still a bit cold from the night and I asked myself how the ANBU on our roof survived the cold nights. Naruto was the first to reach the small clearing neat the training grounds and he started to warm up and stretch. I for my part took off and ran from one training ground to the next, hunting an imaginative prey while dodging branches in the treetops and turning corners.

After nearly fifteen minutes of running around I asked myself if I would ever have enough vigour to train on my own. I went back to Naruto and noticed my breath still being relatively calm. When I followed Kakashi for the first time in the forest over seven months ago at his fast speed I only kept up for a couple of minutes before I felt like dying. Now I ran at my top speed where even my Neko-ANBU was troubled to keep up and it was no problem for my body. '_Maybe that's a growing effect from Naruto's chakra?_'  
Since the day I became a fox, I hadn't really absorbed his chakra again. The Hokage actually talked about it in one of our meetings. I must have taken a real shit load of the Kyuubi's chakra, because Naruto never really managed to run low on it and never before fell asleep due to chakra exhaustion. The Kyuubi was nearly like an endless pit of chakra, but I guess me leaching a big part of it still had its effect. Becoming friends with the fox demon could become difficult in the future. Not that I wanted to ever personally meet him.

Naruto was still stretching when I arrived and behind us in the trees I could hear Neko-ANBU pant and his racing heartbeat. '_Poor guy, I will buy him a drink when we go home._'  
I began running around the clearing and imitating a sequence of steps Kiba and Akamaru showed me a week ago. This was a funny activity to do, dodging and dancing around in defensive patterns and I could also burn the excess of energy I stored since I started going to school and always sitting or laying down next to Naruto. Not that I really wanted to run around all the time or found joy in it. The blonde boy made his usual hand sign and practised his clone Jutsu. Somehow he always screwed it up, but could perform a perfect sexy Jutsu. '_He even invented it himself_', I added proudly and grinned when I remembered the Hokage flying of with a nose bled. What a glorious time to be alive.

The one thing he was truly bad at was creating a clone. The poor things always looked like an elephant jumped onto them. I had no idea how Naruto managed to do this poorly, but I as well was still learning to control 'my' chakra myself. Pakkun visited us four days ago on suggestion of Kakashi and taught me ways to perform Jutsus as a summon. Now that I had chakra I should be able to use them, theoretically.  
I got a lecture about fox summons, their capability of using Sage techniques, fox-fire and the ability in near perfect Genjutsu. We tested my affinities and when he saw the results, the pug coughed something like "Naruto isn't the only dead last...". To be more blunt: I sucked at nearly everything for a few reasons. The main issue was my non-existent chakra control, but to be fair, I was a bit hesitant about using the Kyyubi's chakra.

I started using the evenings to meditate and feel the chakra inside my body. Typically it felt like Naruto's blue chakra, but every time I consciously tried using it, it became wild and monstrous again. Pakkun told me that he never sensed a change in the chakra signature so I didn't know what went on with it or how to proceed. Hokage-sama couldn't help me either, again, one of the few things he never heard about. He just checked my seals and said that I (and everybody else) should be fine. Sadly he was no big help and we both knew it.

Yesterday I actually managed to control the Kyuubi's chakra for a second before it rampaged inside of me. That's why I started to exercise before, hoping that maybe the chakra reacted to my energy levels and that I could calm it after exhausting myself, which to was annoying.  
After an hour of constant running, jumping and climbing trees I felt tired enough so I sat back onto the ground and started to reach out to the chakra. It was still warm and comfortably flowing through my body. Slowly I mentally touched it and tried to redirect and gather it into my feet.  
To my own surprise it actually worked. It still changed back into the hot chakra of the fox spirit, but I actually managed to keep the flow steady and under my control.

"Naruto, Naruto! I can control chakra" I cried out in joy and after I looked up, I noticed the perplex look he gave me. "Huh" he made a questioning sound and stared at me as if I went invisible again. "What's wrong?" I got confused and his finger pointing at me didn't help either.  
"I didn't know you could switch your form again", he finally said and now I was the one looking perplex and my gaze quickly wandered to my body.  
I… I was a human. I had a human body, and feet and hands and naked skin and my snout was gone as well as my fur and tails. I was a human again, sitting on the ground with chakra concentrated into my feet.

After I took a second look over my form I quickly went to the small puddles and the reflection of an older teen around 17 or 18 years with red, short hair, brown eyes and short canine teeth stared back at me. '_Like __the dogs__ described me…_'. I wore a red, wide cut dress with a white hem and long, big sleeves reminding me of a short, loose fitting kimono. Then I turned back to Naruto, who seemed to recover from the small shock. The branches above me rustled and Neko-ANBU jumped down next to me. He didn't make the effort to be silent, since being followed around and observed was an open secret to Naruto and me. His hesitant movements towards me indicated, that he was as clueless and surprised as we were.

"I guess… we should go speak with Hokage-sama, Tenko-san", he said and somehow he body flickered us into the Hokage tower in the blink of an eye. I felt a bit dizzy in my head. He didn't let go of my arm, his grip wasn't tight or strong enough to hurt me, just stopping me from slipping away and keeping me in place. Not that I ever planned to do otherwise.  
We were standing in front of the office doors and when Neko-ANBU knocked I realized that his broad shoulders blocked my view and how tall he really was. As a fox I always had to look up to people, since I just managed to reach an adults knee. As a human this was different, because of my first time meeting Naruto I still remembered that I was a bit taller than him. 'He_ must be about the same height as Kakashi or Gai_' I thought in wonder. His shoulders and muscles were a bit broader than Kakashi. Could a summon develop a crush on a human purely based on physical appearance? Seems like it.

I could hear the old man inviting us inside and when Sarutobi looked up from his documents his eyes darted from his ANBU to me and back. It took him a second, but he seemed to recognize me and his pipe actually fell out of his mouth. "Hello" I copied Kakashi's greeting gesture and grinned with my canine teeth sticking out. The Hokage coughed into a fist and raised from his seat. A sharp nod to Neko-ANBU indicated that the man could let go of me and the old man rounded me once, before he offered me a chair.  
Four more ANBU surrounded the room, I smelled them.

"How did I earn this… surprise this early in the morning?" A very good question I failed to answer, I had to admit. So I shrugged my shoulders and told him about the training I did. "…- then I finally managed to control the chakra and gathered it into my feet. Nothing indicated or felt like a transformation and hadn't Naruto said anything, I wouldn't have noticed. I already lost my concentration on the chakra, but I didn't change back." I let my hands point at my body. "I am still human." I tried to avoid making too fast movements. After having lived in Konoha for a month in peace I was not keen on getting attacked by ANBU.

Sarutobi sat back into his chair and lit his pipe up. He took his time, clearly thinking, while Neko-ANBU continued to stand behind me. I couldn't see him, but his presence equalled a huge brick wall. Somehow this wasn't as intimidating as it should be, since I knew that he could be nice and pet me. But ANBU were still ANBU so one always had to be a bit careful around them. "At least I think I am somewhat human. The seals prevent it, but maybe the Kyuubi affects my form or tries to disrupt it?", I added to break the silence and possibly offer information. I was operating on the Kyuubi's chakra after all. "We would know if I suddenly changed into the demon." I said it quietly and more to myself.

Suddenly discomfort and fear flooded my body and my limbs grew heavy on me. My body tensed up and I felt fear in every cell of my body.  
The old man just raised an eyebrow in surprise and straightened in his seat. However that person responsible did it, killing intent, Jutsu or just their presence, it clearly worked. The last few weeks I had forgotten the skills and power of the ANBU, too busy cuddling in Neko's lap and just living my life on Naruto's side. Clearly a mistake.  
"Hokage-sama… what" I gulped feeling my chest tighten and the oxygen missing in my lungs. '_Just stop this. I didn't do anything wrong_' I begged in my mind.

The Hokage relaxed in his chair and tapped his fingers on the table two times. Just as fast as the unpleasant pressure on myself appeared, it vanished. Taking a deep breath my heart pounded against my ribcage and my whole body trembled. My trembling hand clenched the fabric in front of my chest and I tried to calm down. I finally noticed a new ANBU with a wolf mask standing in one corner of the room. '_When did he get inside?_' I asked myself and quickly remembered what Pakkun told me about their division. Torture and interrogation, lovely.  
He was the one who applied the pressure on me as if to tell me not to get the wrong ideas related to the Kyuubi's power. Most certainly, I wouldn't, but now I had even more reason not to do anything stupid in form of the wolf ANBU.  
Disliking others having power over me was in my nature and this one reminded me of the 'why'. Somehow _he_ was able to intimidate me even when he just leaned against the wall behind him and _I_ was a summon or a spirit or whatever. '_Shouldn't I be more powerful than a human? __Why do I even try to be harmless, when he just acts anyway?_'

"This was not necessary", Sarutobi just said and the ANBU bowed slightly. '_Dickhead_' a more creative description wouldn't come to my mind. After his little presentation my body felt drained and my head was filled with thoughts. I just wanted to leave, get away from this stupid man, from this situation and out of this body. When I was a fox, they weren't _this_ hostile and I never felt this helpless before either. I got frustrated with the situation and my own weakness.  
The Kyuubi's chakra started boiling up inside me. I just noticed it when my fingernails grew into claws, my teeth buried themselves into my lower lip and I heard a deep growl leaving my throat.

Neko-ANBU took a step back, raising his hands, ready to form signs and the damn wolf masked man even dared to come closer. I wanted to tell him to leave me alone when I finally heard a foreign voice in my head. "_Why would you let them decide over you? They are nothing against __our__ power! __You are a fox, they are just insects under your feet!_"  
Clearly hearing the strange voice made me realise, that it was taking over my mind's control. I buried my claws in my hair and tried to get it back. '_You fucker are the one trying to manipulate me. Shut up and get out of my head!_' I told the voice inside my head and with a deep growl it retreated.

I sighed loudly, feeling the claws and teeth grow back and being back in my human form. When I opened my eyes I saw Hokage-sama standing over me as he started checking my seals. "They are still holding… how did this happen", he asked and I pointed at the wolf ANBU. "When he pressured me a voice poured thoughts into my head and tried to turn me against you… I think. But it is gone now" I explained to my best abilities.  
The Hokage sent the wolf ANBU out to get Kakashi and when the man appeared only a minute later, he briefly told Kakashi what happened. They started theorizing about the effects of the Kyuubi and my emotions and something about my seals. I quickly lost them thanks to my lack of knowledge.  
Kakashi was familiar with my case and also knew much about seals and the rules which affected summons. He was surprisingly knowledgable. Then the doors flew open and an old man with bandages covering half his face came inside.

Kakashi looked up and his visible eye gave the man a cold glare, his body tensing up in the slightest. "… Danzo-sama", Kakashi said in a dark tone and I watched him carefully. Whoever this man was, Kakashi didn't like him and since I had started to trust his judgement, I was vary when the strange man came closer.

"Danzo, how can I help you today? It seems to be urgent." Hokage-sama just stared him right in the eye with a strange look and waited. "So it is true? The fox changed its form. Why didn't you seal _it_ away a month ago like I suggested?" Wow, that man was rude and he actually dared to talk like this to Sarutobi. Kakashi and Neko-ANBU both stood at my sides and watched the men talk. Judging by their tensed bodies, I guessed both didn't like him. When Danzo glared at me, I finally understood how Naruto must always feel like. Sure, the villagers didn't appreciate my presence and sometimes were a bit rude, but they were too afraid to tell or show me that to the extent Naruto had to live with it. That man however tried to strangle and gut me with his eyes filled with despise and hate. He even called me 'it' when I was right in front of him.

Lovely, but two could play this game. I pulled at Kakashi's sleeve and pointed at the man. "Kakashi, who is _that_ and why is he this rude?" I planted a slightly derogatory tone into my words and then openly stared back at the man, giving him a toothy smile.  
'_Okay, I might be over-bending my boundaries, but he deserves it._'  
"You little- " "Danzo" the Hokage interrupted him with a stern voice. "Why exactly are you here, Danzo-san?" The intruder took a deep breath. "I was informed that the fox acted on the demon's chakra and immediately came here to offer my help. I had told my root members to follow _it_ just to be safe." "So that was the rotten smell", I quietly mumbled only for Kakashi and Neko-ANBU to hear. Kakashi poked my side with his elbow, his mask weakly indicating a grin and my ANBU actually laid a hand on my head.

"You know that you don't have to concern yourself with _her_, Danzo. I took care of the village's and her safety and there hasn't been a single reason to seal her away, too." Sarutobi continued talking with calmer body language. His hand gestured to my direction. "As you can see, she has some of our most capable shinobi at her side and even after her form change nothing happened. She might be just a normal summon who needs some help with her chakra."  
I could bet my fur the Hokage was in favour of me right now. He might not be allowed to show it in public, but everybody present could sense it. Danzo was no happy camper when he got the man's reply and with a short goodbye and a dark glare at me he left the room. When he was taking the stairs, I was still able to hear him talk. "That old man is loosing his mind, not using the demon's container as a weapon against our enemies, but we will be ready! You keep observing that fox and the little monster it is living with. One day they will make a mistake and then I can get rid of that stupid fox!" he whispered to the root member at his side.

'_You backstabbing cunt_' I thought shocked and sunk back into the chair.  
In my mind I began to think of any possibility to stay safe. _'If Danzo just waits for any reason to kill __me__, __I__ have to be careful. Somehow I have to make precautions to stop him from letting us disappear... If Naruto becomes Hokage, this fucker can't do shit!_' Kakashi petted my head with more pressure than necessary, so I shoved his hand away and just wanted to start ranting at him and about that dickhead Danzo, when suddenly another hand started petting my hair again. It was Neko-ANBU and he was more gentle than the Jonin.

The Hokage and Kakashi both were surprised to see any relation between us and him showing me affection this openly. Sarutobi went back to his desk and massaged his temples. "Tenko, somehow you attract trouble, don't you?" I could hear a hint of amusement next to his fatigue. "I am sorry, sir. It wasn't my intention" I gave him a short bow. "I think we are done here. You can go back and find Naruto. I am surprised he didn't barge in already. Kakashi will escort you." Then his eyes wandered to Neko-ANBU: "You will stay here for a moment."

Kakashi nodded and made his way to the door, while I bowed again and gave my ANBU a small smile before following Kakashi outside. He didn't initiate a conversation so I had the opportunity to eavesdrop on the Hokage. "- it since you are ANBU. If it becomes too personal for you we will have a problem, since your abilities are existential for this mission. Do you understand? " A short pause. "Yes, Hokage-sama." That was Neko-ANBU. Did he… get in trouble because of me? I looked at my feet and down the stairs. Now I felt bad for him.  
Hokage-sama was right. I really did attract trouble.

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Thanks for reading and have a great day. :)


	5. Chapter 5

_Hello :)  
Here is the new chapter~_

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Last week Naruto practised his clone Jutsu like a maniac, next to throwing shuriken and other stuff happening. Other stuff included me suddenly being trapped in my human form and not really going outside or doing anything in public except walking over the roofs and sleeping near Naruto on our clearing. He had the reasonable problem sharing his bed now, since I was no cute fox any more but a young woman with a bad mood after my ANBU suddenly avoided any contact with me. I didn't blame him after his talk with Sarutobi-sama, but I still missed our short moments on the roof.

Four days ago I went out and bought myself a futon and some clothes. This was a real hassle, since I never had to go shopping before. I didn't know my size, which styles would fit, nothing. The sales assistant was patient seeing how much trouble I had and was probably feeling pity for me. At the end I bought myself some black pants I could move and train in without restriction, simple, blue shorts and a few shirts in different colours. When I went into the next store to buy a bra it took me two minutes to go into a store where they sold bindings for Kunoichi. Who invented those wire frames with lace around it? They were nowhere near comfortable and too expensive for too little material.  
My last stop was at a furniture store where I found a nice futon, not that they had a real variety. I still got everything I needed and also topped up our supply on cup ramen and vegetables, to Naruto's despise.

I finally had thumbs and could use a knife, turn knobs and all the little things I wasn't able to as an animal. Logically I started to learn cooking and when my first homemade meal was done after Naruto came back from school, he silently stared at our plates, took a chopstick and poked the fried vegetables. The carrots, being slightly crispy, crumbled into small and hard pieces. We exchanged a look and when I threw the 'food' into the garbage bin, Naruto just prepared cup ramen.  
Yeah, cooking was no skill of mine.

I still didn't know what the Hokage was talking about back in his office, Neko's abilities being 'existential' for his mission. Wasn't he just observing me? What kind of ability did an ANBU need to have to sit on a roof and follow after one person… fox… whatever. Him being in the assassination unit couldn't be a good omen though. The worries bugged me whenever I was alone in our apartment and I didn't dare to ask Kakashi or Sarutobi-sama himself.

* * *

One evening Naruto went to bed, I had already buried myself into my futon, and turned off the lights. He'd been quiet sine he came back from school and hadn't told me about his day or anything really. I tried asking him once, but he avoided the question and kept himself busy with planning some sort of new prank. Obviously the boy didn't want to talk about it and I had no interest into pressuring him for an answer.

The room went silent again, only our breathing filled the air when Naruto rustled inside him bed and turned the small lamp next to it back on. He sat up and looked at me across the small apartment. His eyes were serious, a fact I didn't like. Naruto rarely got serious and the reasons never were good.  
Contrary to my expectation he stayed quiet and I felt myself readjust the hem of my shirt, not knowing how to react. The blonde seemed to search for the right words, another sign that something was wrong. Naruto never thought before speaking, always bursting out in his loud voice, whatever came to his mind.  
"I don't like your human form" the sentence was nothing more than a whisper. Perplex I raised my head and looked into his eyes. "Huh?" was my eloquent reaction. Naruto flinched, clearly hoping I didn't hear him. I sat up more straight and tried to think about any reason he had to say that. _'Did the Hokage talk to him? Was it a dislike of Naruto that I was no fox? Had I done something to make him dislike me?_'

"I don't like..." his hand gestured at my body helplessly, pointing from head to toe. "… this." Somewhere inside of me I felt attacked. "Excuse me?"I asked, giving Naruto a passive-aggressive look. His hands curled into fists at my sharp tone. "I want you to turn back into a fox. You can't be a human" he said, again not clarifying anything. His body was tense, nails digging into his palms and he bit his lower lip.  
The boy in front of me was confusing. His words sounded so much more determined than his whole body language told me. He was unsure of himself, he was hesitating, he was worrying.

'_Don't let your emotions get the best of you, Tenko. Mentally he is a kid and you are more mature. Take a deep breath and get to the bottom of this._' I forced myself to relax my shoulders I hadn't noticed to have risen up and took a breath while counting to ten. This technique didn't help me too much, but it gave both of us time to think. Naruto was a kind-hearted and sweet child that wouldn't just hurt me with his words. I knew that, but I still had to remind myself of this fact. I cleared my throat, unclenched my fists and after I took another deep breath I asked: "Why don't you like me as a human?"

The child's face revealed all the hurt he felt to me and whatever expression I had, it slipped. Seeing the boy sitting in his bed, emotionally lost and vulnerable made my chest sting unpleasantly. My heart couldn't bear the scene in front of so I slowly stood up and went to Naruto's bed.  
He looked at me with big, blue eyes and my heart was screaming at me to help him, protect him from whatever made him look this fragile. I sat down next to him and pulled him into a hug. Being a few centimetres taller than him, the boy threw his arms around my back and buried himself into my chest as if I'd disappear any second. His action disconcerted me and I started to feel uncomfortable, not knowing what to do.

Hesitantly I started stroking his blond hair, which resulted in sobs and hiccups against my shoulder. I immediately stopped and tensed, waiting for any change. '_What happened? Why is he crying? What do I do now?_' My thoughts raced in circles as I sat on his bed and slowly wrapped my arm back around him.

"I -... Today…" the blonde sobbed into my shirt. "Mizuki-sensei, he..." His voice broke again and I tried my hair stroking method again. "Mizuki-sensei did _what_?" I tried to keep my emotions at bay. This time Naruto shifted into a more comfortable position and leaned into my side. "Today I told Iruka-sensei about your transformation and that you could finally use your hands and how happy you were about it. I also told him that you didn't want to join my classes in human form and Mizuki-sensei heard us. In detention he asked me if you didn't want to spend your time with me at school any more, since you now didn't have to rely on me. He said, that fox summons could trick people and use them for as long as they saw any use in them. I don't want you to leave me."

My mouth opened to answer his silent question, but then I closed it again. After this input I was speechless. Sure, I finally had hands to use, but I hadn't thought about leaving the boy. Anger boiled up inside of me, I was angry at Mizuki for telling Naruto those things. I was angry at the Chunin for planting those thoughts into his mind and making Naruto into such a wreck.

I was angry at myself for finding some truth in Mizuki's words. I was living with Naruto who wanted to become Hokage. I was prepared to help him reach his dream, but not purely out of good will. I hoped for protection, safety. '_I really __am__ using a child's dream for my own selfish reasons, __but I had not thought about just dropping him if the plan didn't work out. Or would I? No! ...I think not_.' It took me a few moments to organise my thoughts, but I came to a conclusion: _Yes_, I really saw a use in Naruto, but he was more then just a safe future. The boy was a kind child, he was my friend, my room mate, he gave me this form and he accepted me for who I was.  
I looked back down to the blonde boy and his eyes searched for reassurance. I felt bad for seeing a new part of me, that actually fit into the description of a 'sly and cunning fox'. It was bad, that I was using his dream for my advantage. A look into his eyes told me the worst thing, Naruto was afraid to be left alone.

I swallowed and then gave him a squeeze. "I won't leave you Naruto, not for any form or transformation that exists." I knew that this was the truth, but somewhere inside me I could hear the small voice of guilt, telling me that I wasn't completely honest with the boy. Naruto hugged me again and I was pretty sure, he tried to crush my ribs.  
'_Affection hurts_.'

* * *

Now it was 11 am and I sat in Naruto's apartment on his bed, staring at the door then at the clock and back at the door. Today was the Genin exam and I felt like exploding due to the tension. Last night I prayed to ten different gods to help him pass. His clones still looked pathetic, but they clearly resembled a human being now. '_Just choose the transformation-no-Jutsu, Iruka-sensei_' I repeated my new mantra and looked back at the clock. 11:03 am.  
Was there ever a case of someone dying of heart failure due to waiting for the outcome of an exam?  
I wanted to escort the blonde boy to his academy today, but he said he wanted to surprise me and come through the door as a ninja so I waited and waited and waited.

11:22 am. I started biting my nails and massaging my temples in an alternate order. "You can't do this to me! I am dying here, Naruto. Just come home and show me your Hitai-ate" I started ranting loudly and when I threw myself at Naruto's pillow I miscalculated my fall and banged my head against a book on the pillow. Cursing I pressed my hand against my forehead when a bear masked face appeared at the window. "What happened?" he simply asked and I grunted. "Just killing time" hissing I wanted to stand up, but my feet were entangled in the blanket. When I fell out of the bed I tried pulling my right foot out of the blanket and under my body to stop the fall.  
An unpleasant crack came from my foot, when my body weight crashed it into the ground in an unhealthy angle and pulsing pain spread in my leg. "Fuck" I yelled angrily when I finally landed on the floor. I pulled my foot up and bit my lower lip to silence any more curses. For a summon I could be a complete and utter failure.

The ANBU climbed inside and crotched down next to me. "Let me see that" he grabbed my leg, but this was enough to shoot tears into my eyes. "Don't touch me" I cried and closed my eyes.  
God, how clumsy could one person be? Suddenly I felt my body shifting and before I could yell at the ANBU again I noticed the big clothes covering my body. I was back to being a fox.  
"Now of all times" I grunted and the ANBU carefully retrieved me from under my new clothes. He took me into his arms and supported my injured leg with a hand. He hesitated for a moment but then said: "I guess I'll take you to the vet." My eyes grew wide when he said that. "WHAT? The vet?" He nodded and off we went.

The trip was short and when we entered the veterinarian's waiting room to get to the reception desk all the visitors looked at us (ANBU-san) like cows. Pet owners, cats, dogs and other animals watched us. ANBU-san quickly nodded at them and caught the assistant's attention. "Hello, we need to get to the doctor. She hurt her leg." The young woman took a second to stare at the man and then she was back in business mode, giving me her attention. "Poor girl. What is her name and what happened?"

"My name is Tenko and five minutes ago I heard my foot make a cracking sound" I answered and the woman nearly fainted. She let herself fall down onto her chair and started at me. "She is a summon." Anbu-san tried to help with his late explanation. She just nodded and quickly went into the nearest treatment room.  
A few minute later a doctor came out followed by his last patient, an old cat. Urgh. "Hello, my assistant explained your case just now. I guess I can directly take a look at you, miss." His gaze quickly wandered to the elite ninja and back to me. "Please follow me" he showed us the way to his treatment room and ANBU-san put me on the cold metal table. "Let's see..." the doc said to himself and carefully touched my leg. When he brushed over my ankle I tried pulling away and but he didn't let me and continued to examine it. "I am sorry, but if I see it correctly, the swelling indicates a broken bone. I'll take a closer look."

The doc called for another assistant who x-rayed my leg with her chakra. She discussed everything with the doctor after she was done and used her chakra to numb the pain. Doc then came to us and said: "Your bone is disconnected from your joint. There is also a rupture on the lower end of the bone, indicating a break. We can operate on it and help quicken the healing process if you like." He talked about my bone needing to be operated with the same voice you'd use to talk about riding a bike. To be fair, it was a routine procedure for him.  
An operation, now I got a bit anxious. A heavy hand dropped on my head and ANBU-san said: "It will be fine." Did this man just try to reassure me? ANBU were just humans at the end of the day, I guessed.

I took a moment to think about it. Limping around was nothing I wanted to drag out so I nodded. Hopefully Naruto would have time the next few days to help carry me around. Shit, Naruto!  
"ANBU-san, Naruto doesn't know about this yet. Can you contact him when he gets home and tell him I will be back soon?" The man in question nodded. "I'll do it while you get treated." I smiled at him. He could be nice, if he wanted to. "Thanks!"  
I felt a bit better and doc started preparing everything for the operation. ANBU-san stayed until I was anaesthetised and fell asleep.

* * *

When I woke up it was early in the morning and I was laying on a soft blanket in an animal cage. My head felt heavy and I was still drowsy. I let my eyes roam around the small cage to my leg being wrapped in thick bandages. I laid my head back down and noticed something under my chin. Somebody brought my teddy. A small smile grew on my face and I snuggled against my toy before I fell back to sleep.

The second time I woke up, I heard steps passing by. My mind felt more clear now but the painkillers wore off, too. My leg throbbed under the bandages and I just wanted to rip them off. My teddy was still at my side and suddenly the door to my cell was unlocked and a smiling woman sat down in front of me. It was the assistant from yesterday. "Good morning, Tenko-san. How are you?" I closed my eyes for a moment and tried to get the answer. "My leg really hurts and my headache is annoying, but I guess I'm fine. How are you?"  
The young woman laughed and carefully stroke my fur. "I am fine, thank you. I'll get you something against the pain, poor thing." She straightened and went to a wooden cabinet, getting a bottle and a small cup. I didn't really need her pity but right now I welcomed it, feeling like shit. When she poured a bit of the liquid into the cup a sweet smell met my nose. I got interested and sniffed a few times at the liquid. "This is more comfortable for the animals to swallow than pills."

It really was nice and tasted like sugared herbs, a strange combination, but certainly not a bad one. "Excuse me, did someone come and for me? A blonde boy, twelve years old, blue eyes orange clothes." I nodded at my teddy. To be honest, I was a bit worried about Naruto since I really wanted to wait home for him after the exam.  
The woman's face took a sad expression and she shook her head. "I am sorry, I haven't seen anybody matching your description. But another ninja with a scar over his nose came to bring your teddy. He seemed quite worried." She let out a soft giggle and my disappointment pushed itself into the background for a moment. '_Iruka__ visited me!_'  
The assistant continued talking to me until the painkillers made me tired again and I drifted back to sleep once more.

The third time I woke up, some people were walking around the medical office, carrying and leading animals around. A fat cat hissed at me and her tail puffed like a cloud and then she was dragged into a treatment room. I growled back. '_Hopefully that beast gets castrated._'  
I sat up and watched the people for some time until I smelled familiar people coming closer. Neko-ANBU came inside followed by Naruto, his clothes were dirty and ripped and he… wore a Hitai-ate! I just wanted to congratulate him when a small voice inside of me reminded me that he hadn't visited me yesterday so I turned around and looked at a very interesting wall.  
"Tenko, you are awake! And you really are a fox again. This makes sense, since we are at the vet's clinic. How are you? Does your leg still hurt?" The boy babbled and the nice woman came with the keys to my cage door. "You can take her back home, but be careful! She shouldn't move too much for the next two weeks and then walk just short distances. You can go home, Tenko-chan" she said with her cute smile. I nodded, but still didn't turn around to Naruto who got confused by my behaviour. "Oooi, Tenko. It's me, Naruto! I came to pick you up." He looked at the ANBU next to him. "Well, the both of us actually."  
"Hmpf" was my very mature answer. Neko-ANBU suppressed any reaction and crotched down next to Naruto. "You shouldn't be angry at him. He was very worried about you." "It's true! I just heard about your accident half an hour ago and we came here. I wasn't even back home until now" the blonde confirmed. "Please don't be angry with me."

I slowly turned around and looked into Naruto's blue eyes. He clearly was worried and I couldn't find a hint for a lie. Mumbling under my breath I took my teddy into my mouth and waited for Naruto to pick me up. He was reaching for me, when Neko-ANBU stopped him. "Let me carry her, please. Your arms are too short to carry an injured animal." Naruto looked at him as if he just was insulted, but he did let the man pick me up. He laid me into his arms on my back so my bandaged leg rested against his upper arm and chest that it wouldn't slip away. The blonde took my teddy and after he had signed a sheet to take me home we left on foot.

"Congratulations" I mumbled at Naruto and nudged his forehead protector. He beamed at me and scratched my ear. "Thanks! Ah, about yesterday, I made clones, hundreds! And they were real, not those from the academy! And I beat Mizuki-sensei into a pulp!" Now I lost him. '_What?!_' I thought and just nodded. My head was still a bit dizzy so maybe I was just falsely processing what he said. When we came home, he'd have to tell his story again.  
I looked around the shops and my thoughts wandered to my stupid accident and ANBU-san. I still had to thank him for helping me. My list of people to show my gratitude got longer and longer. The embarrassment of breaking a bone while falling from a bed was something where I hoped the secrecy of ANBU was as good as everybody said.

When we finally arrived home and Neko-ANBU jumped back onto our roof, Naruto told me about him failing the exam, Mizuki tricking him into stealing the scroll, Iruka-sensei coming for his rescue, Mizuki telling the boy about Kyuubi, taht he tried to kill Iruka-sensei, too and Naruto's fight with the traitor. All in chronological order. I felt relieved that he and Iruka survived and Naruto wasn't getting any punishment for Mizuki's manipulation.  
Inside I was furious that this lowlife of a cockroach dared to use Naruto and actually wanted to kill him over his hate for the Kyuubi. Sadly the first part made he a little bit into a hypocrite.

My blonde room mate felt silent after his story and he was shifting on his spot on the bed. "You weren't surprised, when I told about the Kyuubi. You knew about it then?" Oh, I nearly forgot that he and his generation didn't know about that matter. "Yes, I did, after I absorbed your chakra in the Hokage's office."  
Naruto lowered his head and his eyes wandered over his blanket. "Why didn't you avoid me like everybody else did?" his voice sounded hopeful. '_Is he seriously doubting me?_'. I felt insulted. "Oh, once or twice I actually did in the first week." Naruto looked at me in shock and I thought he was near crying. Me and my big, stupid mouth and bad timed sarcasm. "Once, when you made ramen for the forth time in one day and tried to force feed it into me to grow big and tall and the second time when you carried me around like a bag of flour and stepped on my tails. But I would never leave you just because of some sealed demon. After all I am a fox summon running on the same evil chakra that is somewhere inside of you. I took quite a piece of the fox's chakra… without it I would not be here with you now. So I, in my humble opinion, think that we are quite the team, don't you think?" I gave him a big grin and wagged my tails simultaneously.

Naruto jumped at me with arms stretched to his sides for a big hug, but I immediately ducked onto the mattress and he flew to the ground. "Naruto! I am still injured so don't do that again" I scolded the boy. "Sorry, sorry, I forgot. Iruka-sensei always says my concentration is nearly non-existent." '_What a wise man._'  
"Apropos Iruka-sensei, how is he?" Naruto sat back up, still beaming happily from my earlier reply. "Oh, he is in the hospital right now. They have to check him over again and stitch the wound on his back, but he said tomorrow he is fit to announce the new Genin teams. I hope I get into the same one with Sakura-chan." I wrinkled my nose. "Please don't. I don't want to have to protect her on missions."The blonde scratched the back of his back. "You really dislike her, huh?"

I sighed and took a moment to think about her, a real waste of brain functions. "I certainly dislike her behaviour towards you. If and only _if_ we get on the same team… I guess I can tolerate her existence, but if she keeps bashing on you, just because you talk to her or are slightly annoying, I bite her calves." I took a short look at my bandaged leg. "I might have to crawl after her the following weeks… do summons heal faster than animals?" Naruto just shrugged his shoulders and was satisfied with a possible truce between his crush and me. "I have no idea."  
"Do you need something to eat or a new book? I have to buy new ramen and some other stuff." Assuming from his statement ramen was now (again) forbidden for me being a fox. "Can you buy the dog food with noodles and chicken? That was good… oh, and I'd like some chocolate, please", I gave him a huge smile and he went out.

Now that I was alone, as alone as you can ever be with constant surveillance, I sniffed the air. With Naruto around I didn't want to be this obvious, but the last few hours I could clearly smell one of the root members around. Their clothes all reeked the same and since I didn't like them or Danzo their scent was like drowning my nose in a public toilette. My humble, biased opinion.  
'_The man must hide somewhere across the street_', his stench was clearly noticeable to my nose. Suddenly Pakkun appeared in a puff of smoke and sat next to me on the bed. He raised his paw. "Yo". I imitated him. "Yo… what are you doing here?" The ninken sniffed the air and made a face. "Root… as expected. Anyway, Kakashi sent me to ask you about Naruto's state. How is he dealing with the knowledge about the Kyuubi?"  
"He will be alright. I told him, that the two of us are in the same boat in some way and I think it helps him… Before I forget it, do summons heal faster than animals? I really want to walk around and accompany Naruto to school tomorrow." Pakkun scratched his ear with his rear paw. "We recover the best when we are not summoned, but that's no possibility for you. I guess your healing process shortens the time by a few days, nothing great though. You might be allowed to sit on the sidelines and watch the boy and his team train." I nodded.

The rest of the day Naruto tried to entertain me with jokes, random stories, games and ramen for himself. After six hours of constant 'entertainment' I wished for thumbs to strangle the kid. He just told me a silly story about a frog he once chased into the hot springs and I buried my head under my paws. "Naruto..." He kept talking. "Naruto." No difference. "Uzumaki Naruto!" I had his attention. "Do you still remember me talking about your talent to annoy people with good intentions? I _really_ appreciate your effort and endurance to keep my spirits up, but I am getting tired and we have to get up early for school tomorrow. Can you carry me to the bathroom please?"  
"Sure", he didn't seem offended, thank god, and sat me down onto the toilette lid. "I get the brush and new bandages" he ran back into the main room and collected all the items we needed. Naruto was very careful not to hurt me when he brushed me, but when he unwraped my leg he started sniffing my fur. "Wow… I never thought I'd ever say that but… Tenko, you stink. Why do I smell that just now" he said and pressed a hand onto his nose. Appalled I sniffed myself and when my nose got close to the bandages I smelled it too. This was a mixture of the disinfection spray, oilments and the same stench animals emitted in stressful situation and my trip to the vet was one of them. While freeing my leg from the material, the stench started to spread.  
"Do you mind giving me a bath?" Naruto's expression was agreement enough and he started filling a bath for me, while I mumbled a few curses under my breath.

I didn't mind taking a bath, but I was really tired now and we would have to renew the bandages. My leg didn't hurt as much as this morning and we also had painkillers at home. My biggest problem was Naruto lacking any skill at first aid or putting bandages on.  
With a loud sigh I let the boy finish untying the white material and both of us had a dumb expression on our faces when we saw a half shaved leg and the scar resembling a wound from the last day. Both of us had to laugh about the strange image I presented, but then we took a closer look at my injury.  
"This already healed pretty good for just one day. I never take long to heal too, you know? Maybe it's the Kyuubi's chakra?" Naruto stared at the fresh, red skin. "But the Kyuubi is living inside of you so of course he won't let you die or take too much time to heal. I am just a parasite that took a piece." We kept staring at my leg. "Hmm. You still hold on to the chakra so maybe it just works this way for any host?" Good question. He agreed to worry about it some other time and the kid put me into the tub. The water was warm and the new shampoo Naruto had bought for me smelled like flowers.

Half an hour later Naruto had finished giving me a bath, wrapping me in towels and getting ready for bed himself. We sat back on his bed, Naruto carefully rubbed me dry before starting to do a sloppy job at covering my leg in bandages. "Who do you think our teacher will be?" Naruto asked to break the silence and deal with his nervousness. "I guess it has to be a very good Jonin. He will have both of us around him since Sarutobi-sama allowed me to be your official summon." "Yes, Jiji is really nice. Just a bit old." I had to laugh. "Naruto, the Hokage being this old is a mark for his strength. Many shinobi die at an earlier age since they go on missions and have to fight really bad people or get attacked. You shouldn't say that about him" I grinned. "Even if it is true."  
Naruto hummed in agreement and wore a smile on his lips. We talked for a bit and then went to sleep.  
Tomorrow we would have a team and a new teacher and start going on missions.

* * *

**Finally** we made it!

In the next chapter Tenko will meet Team 7 in all its glory.

Have a great day. :)


	6. Chapter 6

Hello :)  
This is already the sixth chapter of my story. I decided to upload it before next week, since I will have a couple of very busy days and might not get to upload a chapter.

Please enjoy. :)

* * *

We arrived at school and I was actually able to limb the whole way on my own. Naruto's theory about the demon fox's chakra seemed to be correct and I only had a few problems putting weight on my leg.  
Arriving in class, we got a few strange looks from other students, until Naruto told Shikamaru loud enough for everyone present that he was a ninja too. The door flew open and Ino and Sakura tried to push each other our of the way to get in first. I let out an annoyed sigh, when they finally entered the room, completely out of breath. Those girls were in no position to question Naruto's behaviour if they raced to class.

The girls suddenly crossed the room to our bench and Naruto started to blush, when Saku-baka smiled. '_Oh yeah, I nearly forgot that he had a crush on the girl. Fucking hormones._' I was still sceptical, why she came to us until I watched behind me and saw the emo kid sitting two seats to our left. I hadn't noticed him before since I had trained myself in ignoring his whole existence in class. He returned my obvious stare and I cringed at his face. "Don't look at me, go away." I barked in a low voice. "Hn", was his only response, not stopping to look at me with an arrogant glare that practically said 'I am better than you low life.'  
Sakura pushed Naruto out her way like a rhino and the whole Uchiha-Club started arguing, who'd have the right to sit next to the self-centred shithead. They hovered around Sasuke again and when Naruto started a staring contest with the emo boy, someone accidentally pushed the blonde into his rival and they kissed. My eyes grew three times their size and I couldn't hold my laughter while all the girls bashed on the poor boy. I really wanted to help him, but I was laughing too hard and my leg still hurt. I just sat next to his legs when Iruka entered and gave him an apologetic look, not being able to hide a grin or really being sorry. He didn't have to go near the little turd.  
Iruka was looking healthy again. After Naruto told me about their fight with Mizuki I expected the brown haired man to be less… unharmed I guess. Maybe I just didn't give him or the medics the credit they deserved.

He talked about their terms and rules deciding on the new formed teams. If I understood it correctly, Naruto just might be able to be on a team with the pink witch, since she was one of the best students. '_Just don't let it be Sasuke_', I prayed my new mantra. I knew that somehow Naruto had a strange relationship with the emo kid, it reminded me of Kakashi's and Gai's friendly rivalry, but I didn't know how much of it was really Sasuke's decision. '_Well, i__f it ma__kes__ the boys happy, I w__o__n't mind or at least ignore it_.'

Iruka read out the new teams and shattered all my hopes when he suddenly announced Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke to be Team 7. I groaned under the table and started doubting the effectiveness of mantras and prayers. Did any god exist or was it just another imaginary creation to try and keep humanity on a morally path?  
After Iruka read out all the teams, Naruto complained about Sasuke being on his team and quickly grew quiet, when Iruka repeated the rules for their decision and the blonde boy being dead last. It was a shame since Naruto actually studied, just a few week but still and he practised on his weaknesses. Naturally the emo had to rub the fact into the blonde's face and when Naruto got angry, the witch complained about him.  
My mood dropped down to the pits of hell and my 'promise' that I would try to cope with her flew out of the window. I had let her get away with the beating, since it was pretty much the boy's fault, but right now she was not fair at all. 'I am a biased hypocrite myself, but at least I know that.' I stretched my neck under the safety of the blonde's legs and pinched her calf with my teeth. The girl let out a strange, high-pitched sound and looked down to her feet. I, for my part, gave her a dark glare and shortly showed my teeth. She went quiet and pulled her legs out of my range.

In the noon the new Genin were supposed to meet at the classroom again to meet their senseis and get to train together. Naruto and I left the building and when I made the left turn to go back to our apartment, I really needed a break from this terrible turn of events, Naruto stopped: "Ah, Tenko, I want to try to talk with Sakura-chan. We are in the same team now." I let a short growl escape my throat: "Do that without me. I've had enough of that girl for today… I'll go first. Meet you later and don't let her beat you up."  
This was actually well timed. I had planned to somehow celebrate Naruto's graduation but with the boy being around me all the time it was really hard to do. Now I had enough time to prepare everything.

I left Naruto to approach his crush and walked back home as quickly as I could. When I reached the door I realised a problem. Naruto always was the one to open the door and without thumbs I couldn't use the spare key hidden under the door mat. "Shit", I vocalised my thoughts, but remembered the ANBU always following me. I leaned over the railing and yelled at the roof: "ANBU-SAN! Do you have some spare time for a moment?" Of course they would have time for me, I was their surveillance object. They had nothing better to do.  
Today ANBU-san with the bear mask was assigned to me and he body flickered next to me. "You don't get in." It was no question, just a mere statement. "I don't. Can you use the key for me?" ANBU-san shook his head and while he reached for the key he said: "I wasn't trained for this… is having kids this annoying?" The question was of the rhetorical category, but I felt the urge to answer it. "Oh, for sure. Babysitting is really similar. When I was invisible I followed a girl to her part-time job for fun and I think this is nearly the same. You, ANBU-san, just get better payment and don't have to feed or bath me."  
"...You really know how to cheer others up, don't you?" I couldn't miss the sarcasm in his voice and nodded while he unlocked the door for me. "Thank you very much", I hummed and went to Naruto's bed, where he always hid some coins for an emergency.  
It was then that I noticed Sarutobi-sama and Kakashi at the small table and the Jonin holding the package of the milk. Naruto had forgotten to put it back into the fridge, again.  
"Good morning. Can I help you?" My question interrupted the men and they should clearly hear that I was not happy to see them just standing in MY apartment.

The Hokage nodded at Kakashi and they shortly returned the greetings. "I was just discussing something with Kakashi-san, since you all will spend some time together." I raised an eyebrow. 'Not impressed,' "And that had to be in someone else's apartment?" Kakashi scratched the back of his head, but the typical eye-smile was missing. "You can learn much from a person when you see how they live." I was pretty sure that, despite the correctness of his comment, this was still trespassing. Taking a deep breath I decided to ignore it. The Hokage was here, meaning that any argument was just a waste of energy.

I shook my head and continued my walk to the bed where I pulled the small pouch from under my spare pillow and carried it back to ANBU-san. "I will go out and buy some things for Naruto to celebrate his graduation. Can you just help me put on the rucksack?" ANBU-san made an annoying sound but helped me none the less. When he was done, Kakashi and Hokage-sama were finally gone and my ANBU went back onto the roof. I started my first trip into the shopping district on my own. I could smell the rotten root member keeping some distance between us and I wouldn't give him or Danzo any stupid reason to get rid of me.

The people on the streets near our apartment building were used to seeing me once in a while and just ignored me walking past them. When I entered the busy main streets I felt more eyes on me, but nobody did anything. I was really glad about this fact and tried to see the groceries store sign between all the legs around me. The small distance everybody kept towards me helped a lot and I finally found the shop. The automatic doors slid open and I went through the aisles to find a few snacks and Naruto's favourite cup ramen. When I reached the aisle with the snacks I saw three pairs of legs of front of the potato chips and looked up.  
Their were Choji, Shikamaru and Ino and the girl was clearly annoyed at her companions. "How do you need five minutes to choose a stupid bag of chips?" She was nagging with her loud, girly voice and I thought about coming back later just to avoid her, but she was more attentive than I thought and when she spotted me, she stopped talking to Choji. "Oh, it's you. Hello, Tenko-chan. How are you?"

I was a bit surprised about her cheery tone and honest smile not remembering any time we really talked to each other. '_Might as well make the best of it. After all she can be nice._' I nodded at them. "Hi. I am fine, thank you. What about you three? You are on the same Genin team, right?" Shikamaru just sighed loudly, Choji gave me a small smile and Ino felt free to answer for the three of them. "Oh, we are fine. Choji just has to choose his snack… hurry up, will you? Tenko-chan, you are in the same team as Sasuke-kun, aren't you? You must be _sooo_ happy." When she mentioned the earl of darkness I wrinkled my nose and could actually see sympathy in Shikamaru's eyes. "Nah, I would be much happier with Shikamaru or Choji. Kiba and Akamaru would be great too. The brat is rude and a lone puppy. I just hope he changes his attitude, when we have to go on missions." Ino didn't agree with my description of her crush, but since I was no love rival to her, she didn't seem to mind my opinion.  
"Yes, he is a lone wolf, isn't that romantic?" her eyes were shinning and Shikamaru finally gave a comment: "Girls… troublesome." Wise words. I hummed in agreement and Choji finally decided to take a sample of every bag of potato chips. "Tenko-kun, what are you doing? I've never seen you here before" he asked and looked at my bag.

Good thing that he reminded me of my task. "Oh, I completely forgot! I'm planning a small celebration party for Naruto to pass his Genin exam. It's this evening. He is out spending time with his new team so I can prepare everything without his knowledge." Then I got an idea. "Do you want to join us? We can celebrate all together and have some fun."  
This way Naruto could develop his friendships with Shikamaru and Choji and maybe even Ino. I was pretty sure the girl had some sort of personality disorder like Sakura did, but she was nice, when kept away for Sasuke. A small voice inside my head told me, that a party with other people would also help me to work on my image and establish a good impression on the clan-kids, a possible insurance for the future if Danzo tries to make me 'disappear'.

"Oh, I am sorry, but my parents already planned something similar this evening. I'd love to spend some time with you on another day." Ino said and I was pretty sure with the 'you' she meant 'if you bring Sasuke too'. But I could be wrong of course.  
Shikamaru and Choji didn't have some free time as well. "Our parents planned a dinner with Choji, Ino and their parents. Troublesome tradition. Hey, Ino, we have to go. See you, Tenko-kun and sorry", Shikamaru said with his typical annoyed tone and with a short wink of his hand they quickly paid for Choji's snacks and left.

'_Damn it, it was such a nice plan!_' I sat down in front of the snack packages and started at them. It would take some time to ensure my stay in Konoha. Not that I would just try to use Naruto's classmate for my advantages, I really liked some of them by now, but I also had to look after myself. For Naruto to become Hokage was my best option to stay safe and make Naruto happy, too. Life certainly was… troublesome.

I took a bag of chips and two bars of chocolate into my mouth and went to cashier to pay for it. Naruto's favourite cup ramen were sold out so I had to find an alternative. The cashier looked at the snacks in my mouth, when I carried them to her and raised both brows, but quietly entered the prices and took the coins from the small pouch I carried around my neck. She was also kind enough to pack the snacks into my bag and I left her with a smile.  
For my first time shopping groceries this went really well and I slowly followed the crowd through the streets, looked at the shops and observed some kids playing and laughing between the adults. I enjoyed myself and without paying any attention to where I was going I ended up in front of Ichiraku's. Naruto was a regular customer and he has told me many times about his evenings with Iruka-sensei, inviting the blonde boy for dinner. Since I started living with him, he had to shared his monthly allowance with me so he only ate instant noodles.

I liked ramen, just not every day and all day long. Occasionally it was a tasty meal. Naruto thought I didn't really like it since I actually felt sick once after he made some strange tasting cup ramen. When he heard the old lady say that animals don't tolerate ramen because of the spices he had cut them out of my diet completely. I hadn't corrected him or complained because of the premonition of being fed too much ramen again. I sniffed at the pleasant smell of the dish coming from Ichiraku's and also smelled Iruka. I walked towards the establishment and found the teacher sitting at the counter, bowl in front of him.  
"Hello, Iruka-sensei", I said happily and the Chunin quickly looked up and then down, when he didn't see anyone standing beside him. "Tenko-san, how nice to see you. You want to join me? My treat" he grinned and I quickly jumped onto the stool next to him. "Thank you, Iruka-sensei! One pork ramen, please." I sang and turned to the teacher.

"Why are you alone? Naruto didn't do anything stupid, did he?" I had to laugh at the question. "No, don't worry. Naruto is spending some time with his new team right now." Iruka grunted: "I don't know whether this is for better or worse." I just shrugged my shoulders and grinned at Teuchi-san, when he placed the bowl of steaming ramen in front of me. "I am planning a small party for Naruto to celebrate his graduation this evening. Would you like to join us?" After all Iruka had an eye on the boy and was like family to him. And I liked the man.

"That is really nice of you, Naruto will be very happy. I'd love to join you two if you want me to come, Tenko-san." Iruka said politely. "Of course or else I hadn't asked." I grinned at him and then started to eat my ramen. Teuchi-san had made a smaller bowl for me and chopped the noodles into short bits to make it easier for me to eat it.  
It was really good! '_Now I understand why the boy is this fixed on ramen._' I never had ramen at Ichiraku's since Naruto and I didn't know how the people would react at first and out of financial reasons. 'What a waste! I'll just have to ask the Hokage for a little increase of Naruto's pocket money. Or maybe he forgot it?'  
Iruka paid for the food when we were done and together we bought some drinks, a few more snacks and the teacher also went into a shop for weapons and bought Naruto a new pouch and two new Kunai as a gift. When we went back to Naruto's apartment I questioned myself if I should have bought him a present too, but I had no money and buying someone a present for this person's money was not really what I wanted.

We arrived and this time Iruka unlocked the door. We quickly cleaned the room, prepared the drinks and snacks, I told the Chunin where he could find the bowls and other things he needed. '_Having thumbs would be nice_' I thought and then I got an idea. '_I transformed, when I controlled my chakra and turned back when I injured myself. Maybe I can figure out what I did and I can change my form whenever I want to do it._'  
This would become my new plan, my personal mission for the start of Team 7.

Back at the school Naruto actually seemed a bit beat up. Not that I never expected this considering their team constellation. The teams were picked up by their new teachers, but we, Team 7, still waited in the classroom. I was the only one who knew Kakashi and his chronic lateness, but I didn't bother to tell the kids. Sasuke and Sakura should learn about it themselves and I also allowed myself the pleasure of their annoyed faces, when Naruto started nagging about their sensei not being on time.  
It was this situation that I realized, I never really told Naruto about my experiences with the Jonin or that I 'knew' him. We once talked about Pakkun, but never about Kakashi and when I told him about my journey to Konoha I just mentioned me blindly running after the chakra I felt.  
Naruto got restless and prepared a prank for Kakashi with the blackboard eraser. His new team mates questioned Naruto's logic, since a Jonin would never fall for such a trick and I had to agree. Boy… were we wrong. Something inside of me begged that Kakashi just wanted the Genin to underestimate him, but I was a bit sceptical. This man had his strange moments after all.

"My first impression of you… I hate you." Kakashi was as charming as ever, I concluded. We went outside to the roofs and sat together when our new sensei wanted everyone to introduce themselves. Needless to say, after Kakashi's introduction you nearly knew less about him than before. At least he told the three of them his name.  
Naruto was next and I thought that he, sitting there and playing around with his Hitai-ate while talking about his dreams, was adorable. Maybe one day I would achieve the final mother hen level and smash everybody into the ground who dared to come near my future Hokage. I snickered at the thought and it seemed that I had interrupted Sakura while fangirling. Not that I really cared.  
The emo introduced himself and I thought about all the clichés he fulfilled with his speech about vengeance. I rolled my eyes, ready to vomit, while my new team looked at him as if he just told them he was a drag queen at night.  
Then Kakashi nodded his head into my direction, expecting me to tell something about myself too. '_Fine, if I really have to._' "My name is Tenko and I am a fox summon. I like Naruto, Iruka-sensei and naps. I don't like stupid, arrogant children, fangirls and Taijutsu. My plan for the future is to help Naruto to become Hokage." '_There, everything is said, now we can start training._'

Kakashi had other plans than training us. He just told us about the second, very difficult test to become Genin and to come early the next morning without having breakfast for safety reasons and with a small wave to me and his eye smile he was gone. '_Well, talk about first impressions_…' Naruto was quiet on our way home, over the roofs of course. Suddenly realization hit him and he yelled: "NOW I remember! I saw him in Jiji's office when the two of us first met!" What a bright spark he was. I nodded and he started asking me question about the man. Most of them I couldn't answer, Kakashi was very careful not to share personal information. His 'introduction' was a perfect example.

When Naruto saw Iruka waiting at his apartment, he grinned and was happy to see the man. We made cup ramen, ate snacks and had a few sugary drinks. Iruka told me funny stories about Naruto and his classmates when they got in trouble for sneaking food into the lesson or slept through class and all the different ways they tried to escape their teachers or avoid detention. I enjoyed myself this evening and Naruto was as sad as I was when Iruka went home after he helped to clean everything up. I didn't beg the man to stay, but I tried my puppy eyes on him. Needless to say that it didn't work.

The rest of the evening we prepared for our first day of practise and I started meditating. Since the day I turned human I stopped attempting to control my chakra, not wanting to suddenly change form again. This time however I didn't plan to control the chakra, I just observed it. I followed its flow, every curve and turn and started to notice the chakra gathering in my right leg around my bone and the tissue. It felt like tiny ants working on my wound to heal and patch everything up. Very interesting! Now I just had to figure out what triggered my transformation and do that again. Clearly easier said than done since I had no idea what I was searching for. I hadn't controlled my chakra at both transformations nor did I feel physical pain. Neither was I angry or had any real goal in mind. To me it was just randomly happening. I couldn't find an answer and got frustrated.

Naruto and I got ready for bed and then he wrapped his arm around my belly like usual. "Ne, Tenko. Thanks for today, that was nice of you." I let the boy cuddle me for a bit. As independent and alone as the boy had to grow up until now as much did he need love and affection. To be this happy about an evening with a former teacher and a 'pet' was just sad. If I ever had children they would never have to feel this way for sure!  
My heart was weak for the blonde boy and I snuggled myself into his side. "The next time we celebrate, you are Hokage" I promised him and earned a bone crushing hug from the boy.

* * *

The next morning Naruto threw his alarm clock against the wall when it went off. "Too fucking early", I complained and listened to Naruto dragging himself into the bathroom. When I opened my eyes and saw the dark night through the window I groaned and buried my head under Naruto's pillow. Kakashi was dead, deader than dead, if he was late…  
When the kid came back he yawned loudly and prepared me some dog food. Yesterday evening my leg was nearly healed, but we decided than I would just watch today, safety first. This meant that I could eat breakfast and when I smelled noodled and chicken I crawled out of bed. This stuff really was tasty and I stretched my tired body on my way to the plate.  
As expected my leg didn't hurt, there was just a slight tightness of the skin left and it itched a bit. I used my teeth to rip the sloppy bandages off and to my surprise I saw a furry leg. The demon's chakra actually supported my hair growth on the shaved leg. '_The boy will not die as a bald man_' I thought grinning. "Naruto, look, look!" I shrieked in delight and turned for him to see my right side. His eyes widened and he brushed over the fur with his hand. "Awesome! I told you it would work", his grin was worth gold at the moment and I quickly went to the full body mirror behind the bathroom door and stared at my leg. '_As if nothing happened_'. "Oh no, we have to go, Tenko", Naruto groaned and I inhaled my food before it could go bad.

We dragged ourselves to the training ground, Kakashi decided on as a meeting point for the real Genin test, and Sakura was already waiting when we arrived. She was looking as sleepy and unamazed about the early hour as we were. We didn't really talk and Sasuke came a few moments later. Gladly Sakura was too tired to fangirl at him and I rolled myself into a ball on the ground. It could be a long time until Kakashi decided to show up.  
After an hour the sun went up.  
Another hour later Sakura was awake enough to fangirl at Sasuke, who threw a Kunai into the same spot in a tree trunk out of boredom. This time the turdface, Naruto and I all groaned at the same time. Naruto at Sasuke for having Sakura hovering around him. Uchiha at the attention from his female teammate. Me from having to live with the fact that both idiots, Sakura and Sasuke, were on our team and that I had to tolerate them. I decided to take a nap.

We waited.  
We waited more.  
We waited too long.  
Finally Kakashi appeared and after the kids yelled at his incompetence to read the clock he made up some stupid apology. '_Really, does he want them to dislike him? Maybe he just is a dick as a sensei._' He pulled out two bells and explained his test, that only two out of the three of the kids could get a bell and the third one had to go back to the academy and wouldn't get a bento box. 'Poor children' I thought and was thankful that Naruto had fed me in the morning.  
Breakfast was already six hours ago, so my stomach grumbled in chorus with the rest of my team, just not as loud as theirs. "Ah, Kakashi, can I go get some food? My leg isn't completely healed so I won't participate. Also I don't like bento", I asked and begged any god to make the Jonin agree, but since no prayer ever reached anybody, the man shook his head. "No, you are Naruto's partner. If he doesn't eat, so won't you. I am prepared for you as well." Out of his bag he pulled a can of dog food. It was actually the one with noodles and chicken. '_Sweet Jesus! ...Shit, now Naruto __has__ to get a bell!_' I grumbled incoherent insults under my breath and sat against a tree. "Naruto, get the bell!"

The test started and with every passing second the prospect of lunch shrank. Naruto had always been the kind of person who jumped into a fight head on and this time it was the worst decision he could make against the Jonin. He stomped into every trap, was way too hotheaded and did the opposite of what was taught in school. I was impressed at how clumsy and incompetent the boy appeared to be. Now he was dangling upside down from a tree and Kakashi used the body replacement technique to get away from Sasuke's Shuriken and Kunai.

I sat under Naruto and watched his waving hands. "You know, Naruto, maybe you'd get a bell if you used your head for once. Just a friendly advise for us to get _food_." The boy crossed his arms in front of his chest and pouted. "If you are fit enough to run around and share your opinion, you can try and get a bell." I raised a brow at his reaction. "Your wish is my command." I turned around and sniffed the air to find the Jonin.

Jumping through the tree tops I quickly found him, he just coated Sakura into a Genjutsu and she started to shiver before he moved on. Somewhere inside of me I actually felt sorry for her, since Kakashi clearly made her see something terrifying. I sneaked up to her and touched her with my paw. Nothing changed. '_Maybe I have to use chakra? But how do I use it to dispel a Genjutsu? __And will I be save afterwards?_' I could try gathering chakra into my paw and disrupt the Jutsu, but I still didn't know what effects this could have on my body and form. If something happened to me, I was of no use at all.  
Sakura paled and was near fainting. I got nervous and looked around me. '_What to do? What to do? What to do?_' Then I did the first thing that came to my mind, I bit her calf. She collapsed to the ground, laid still for a few seconds and groaned when she got up.  
'_Boom! I am the best! Did you see that Kakashi?! … Probably not_' I still praised myself and when the girl gave me a confused look, I quickly explained the situation. Together we ran back to the clearing and stopped dead when we briefly saw the Uchiha's head on the ground. Sakura had a short nervous breakdown and fainted for real this time. I was shocked, seriously questioned Kakashi's sanity, before I noticed the loosened earth around his neck.

"Thank god, the little pest isn't dead", I said in pure relief and went over the boy who was busy alternating between sending me death glares for the comment and rolling his eyes at an unconscious Sakura. I helped the little runt to get free, before he went up to the girl and woke her up. They had a short conversation and when she talked about giving up and trying again next time, Sasuke switched back into his bitch-ass mode and gave her a hateful glare. Myself, I didn't like her comment and didn't want to continue sitting in class with Naruto bickering with the emo or have my daily input of fangirls talking about Uchiha Sasuke.  
But this boy, he had issues. He started talking about 'the man' only he was able to kill and that he was living for vengeance so he couldn't waste his time. Blah, blah, blah. "Did anyone ever tell you, that you are annoying? Stop talking about your personal problems and move your ass if you have time for that." I wanted to strangle him, but the only thing I could really do right now was to go away and search Naruto.

The boy was tied against the trunk, the bentos in front of him and I just shook my head. Sakura and the pest sat down next to him when Kakashi announced their incompetence to ever become ninjas. The runt ran towards the Jonin, drawing his Kunai and I caught myself hoping that he'd get punched into the face for this action. Yes, Kakashi's words were harsh, but they weren't wrong.  
The man suddenly had the boy pushed to the ground and sat on his back. He told the kids about their obvious flaws and the lack of team work they needed for missions. "The same goes for you, Tenko. You don't like Sakura and Sasuke and you openly show it. This can be crucial on a mission to trick you guys to separate… at least you helped them. That's the only positive thing right now." I pouted and glared at our teacher, but sadly had to agree with him.  
He went to the memorial stone and when Naruto proclaimed that his name would stand there to show his heroism, I felt my heart sink.

Back when I was invisible and followed Kakashi around we came here a few times and I quickly learned that I was interrupting a _very_ personal situation. Kakashi had lost his team, sensei and many other people. This was all I really knew about the man and it was more than he probably would want me to know. In my opinion Kakashi couldn't really deal with the losses and hearing Naruto talk about it completely oblivious to its real meaning must have some effect on the man. It wouldn't be a positive one.  
Kakashi actually told them, that his closest friends' names were engraved into the stone and for a moment he seemed vulnerable to me. The Jonin quickly redirected the attention back to the test and told us that we'd get a second chance. We were allowed to eat with exception of Naruto since he actually planned on eating alone in secret. I grumbled and gave Naruto a punishing glare, because Kakashi had made it clear, that I only got something to eat when Naruto earned it, too.

"Tenko, come with me for a moment" his voice pulled me out of my thoughts about food and I turned to the man. He nodded into the direction of the trees, where my ANBU sat and pulled out the can of dog food. "I'll allow you to eat over there, since you actually helped Sakura and Sasuke earlier." I hesitated for a second, since he could just give me the food right here. Or was this a test for me to see if I let Naruto starve alone? Considering the direction where he wanted me to follow him, I guessed it had something to do with my surveillance. I obediently followed and after we walked for a minute, Kakashi stopped and today's ANBU body flickered next to us.  
"First of all, I know that you don't like Sasuke nor Sakura, but you have to tolerate your team mates in the future. I also know that you don't have any skills for fighting yet, so I was surprised to actually see you getting active. Now, Pakkun told me that you want to learn how to use your chakra for Jutsus, but we still have the problem that none of us has any idea what will happen the next time you try using it." Kakashi waited for me to catch on to the situation, opened the can and poured it onto a small plate before he continued talking.  
"Hokage-sama is, by now, convinced that you don't have bad intentions or else you wouldn't be allowed to walk around this freely any more. I met with him and we decided that you will be taught to control the Kyuubi's chakra for the next few weeks. This means that you have different training than Naruto and you are not allowed to try controlling chakra without your sensei. Understood?"

I had stopped sniffing at the food and just blinked at the man. Didn't he know that he can't just throw information at others and expect them to get it all right away? "I… I will specifically be trained to learn how to control the Kyuubi's chakra and I am only allowed to do so under supervision?" I repeated more for myself. Wow, what a development I had not expected. Kakashi simply nodded. "Who is my sensei? And why does he need to be here?" I pointed my paw at the ANBU. "Ah, good that you ask. You know your sensei already, kind of, and Hokage-sama ordered him", Kakashi nodded at the ANBU: "to bring you to your first lesson. I will tell Naruto that you see him this evening. Now go." Kakashi waved at me and turned around.

Before I could protest or comment on that, the ANBU took my food, wrapped an arm under my belly, picked me up like a bag of rice and body flickered us away. It took him only a couple of seconds and suddenly we were standing in front of an old wooden house. We were at the outer wall of Konoha and from my surrounding I could see some fields around us. It was an uninhabited part of the hidden village. My ANBU entered and directly went to a metal door leading into the basement. I got a creepy feeling, suddenly getting carried into a strange house away from civilization down into a basement with a metal door.  
I tried wiggling out of his grip, but the ANBU just put his other arm around me, still holding the canned food, and I was trapped against his chest armour. An amused snort, echoing from the bare walls, drew my attention to a person standing in the middle of the big cellar room. It was Neko-ANBU! "You scare her, if you do that… Hello, Tenko-san." The ANBU carrying me loosened his grip and I jumped to the ground and made my way towards Neko-ANBU. "Why are you here? Didn't Hokage-sama tell you not to interact with me?" He clicked his tongue. "So you still heard that? I got a new mission if you want to call it that, since from today on I will teach you how to control chakra and be there if something goes wrong." '_Cat mask means assassination_' I reminded myself, but couldn't suppress my happiness.

He gave the other ANBU a hand sign and the man left after he put the can down. "As you can see, the walls, ground and ceiling are equipped with seals and weapons for me to use in an emergency. Hokage-sama and I hope we won't need them. After all the work and hours of surveillance it would be a shame." I knew he tried to make it sound funny, but the truth in those words had a sobering effect. I nodded and sat down in front of his feet. "You are my sensei now.. how should I call you?" My head tilted to one side and I asked myself if he'd tell me his real name or the one he got for his work. I wouldn't have any possibility to check on it, it shouldn't matter.  
"You can call me Tenzo." I nodded. "Tenzo-sensei then?" He scratched his head. "Sure, I'm fine with it." His voice sounded relaxed and he sat down to pet my head. 'I really missed that.'

* * *

Have a great week! :)


	7. Chapter 7

Hello guys :)  
Finally my next chapter is ready! \°^°/  
Unitersity is keeping me busy with tests and portfolios even this short before christmas. This sadly kept me from updating.  
Now please enjoy and I hope you like my story as much as I do. :)

* * *

Naruto looked after Kakashi-sensei and Tenko, when they left the Genin behind. To say he was curious was the understatement of the century. In the last couple of weeks Naruto found a companion in the fox, a room mate, a friend, family. She was everything he never had and always wished for. Of course, Iruka-sensei and the Hokage looked after him, but they would leave for their own homes at the end of the day.  
Tenko was with him even in the night and every time Naruto went out alone he told her where he went and when to expect him back. She was always waiting for him to come back, come home. Seeing the fox leave him with the strange man somehow made Naruto feel anxious, alone and being tied to the trunk hindered him on following.  
It nearly shocked him to notice his emotional dependence towards her.

The blonde boy grunted and tried to see something else than just trees and plants when his friend disappeared, but it was no use. A loud rumbling from his stomach reminded Naruto of the near starved state he was in and his eyes targeted the two bentos. Sakura and Sasuke already started eating, making Naruto feel desperate in his hunger. Feeling too proud to admit it, he simply denied his need for food out loud and avoided any eye contact. Sadly his body betrayed him and the rumbling got even louder.  
Cursing in his thoughts at the whole situation, being on a team with the bastard, having Sakura-chan just ignore himself or look at Sasuke-teme and also having to deal with Kakashi-sensei, this was really to much for an empty stomach.

Suddenly the bastard offered Naruto his bento. Sakura got nervous, fearing the Jonin to come back any second, since he had forbidden them to give Naruto any food. "Naruto will be too weak when Kakashi-sensei comes back for our second chance. We all have to be at full strength."  
Naruto momentarily was speechless. Sure, Sasuke could be smart if the occasion demanded it, but to go against their sensei's instructions was something else.

Sakura also held out her bento to Naruto, making him see stars and hearts in his mind. '_Sakura-chan! She offers me her bento, lucky me!'_  
"Ah, I am all tied up. Sakura-chan, you have to feed me." Not being able to hide a huge grin, he didn't see the pulsing vein on her forehead. She calmed her nerves, but could not stop the cringe on her face when she held out some food for Naruto to eat.  
The boy opened his mouth with an 'Ah' and was happily waiting for the food, when Kakashi-sensei appeared in a small cloud of smoke.

The three Genin held their heads high when they defended their actions and Naruto felt something bubble and burst in his body. It was pure happiness seeing _his_ team stand by his side and support him. At this moment he didn't care whether or not they passed their test, because he wasn't alone.

Kakashi-sensei let them pass and congratulated them for officially being Genin while offering his eye-smile. The three kids all got excited and even Sasuke-teme smiled visibly. The Jonin untied Naruto and when they were told to meet up the next day to get their first mission, Sakura and Naruto started to enthusiastically talk with Sasuke, who just nodded most of the time. They just turned around to leave the training ground, when the blonde boy looked to his feet and could not find Tenko.  
Stopping immediately and running back to his new sensei Naruto got worried. She wasn't gone for long and her regular meeting with Jiji always took longer, but he didn't know about any meeting and Kakashi hadn't said anything either. Naruto didn't like that.

Naruto saw the man collect his robe from around the trunk and waved at him. "Oi, Kakashi-sensei. Tenko-chan isn't back and you haven't told me where she is!" His voice had an accusing tone in it.  
The Jonin continued with his task and took too long for Naruto before he answered the unspoken question.  
"Hokage-sama chose for Tenko to get different training from you guys, since she has problems with her chakra. Don't worry, she might be back in the evening. Concentrate on yourself for now."  
Sadness washed over Naruto and he looked to the ground and stared at an ant walking through the grass.  
"She won't go on missions with us?" His voice betrayed him and trembled in disappointment. He had hoped that they would pass as a team, go on missions and do everything together, just like before. The old man hadn't told him about this plan before...  
Naruto looked up again and saw a slightly uncomfortable Sensei scratching his head.

"Maa, she might join us once in a while, but right now she has to train alone." Suddenly the relaxed look and body posture of his teacher vanished and the man got serious.  
"Naruto, you should know the best that Tenko can't use chakra, physical strength isn't her strong point either and she can't use weapons. In a real fight she is just a burden and endangers the team to look after her. The only possibility for her to be useful is to get the control over the foreign chakra in her body. This has to be done by individual training."

The blonde boy clenched his fists, angry at his teacher's words about Tenko. This was not fair. All the time Naruto trained to become a ninja, to become Hokage, he wanted the people to recognise him, see him. When he finally found someone who did and just accepted him, this person was taken away from him. Sure, just for training, but still!  
Tenko didn't fight when he was training with her on the weekends and she couldn't use Jutsus, Naruto already knew that, but Tenko still had her teeth, she was fast and smart. Being called a burden hurt the boy, making him remember all the mean things the other kids and teachers said about him. Naruto didn't want that for Tenko. She should be happy and feel needed.

A heavy hand on Naruto's head pulled him out of his thoughts. Kakashi-sensei had lowered himself to be on the same eye level with his new student.  
"Support her when she comes home. Tenko doesn't like training away from you as much as you do, too. The faster she gets it done the faster she is with the team and with you."  
Then his sensei took his bag and flickered away, leaving Naruto alone to his thoughts. He silently looked around the clearing and then let himself fall into the grass, watching the clouds. Inside the boy's mind his thoughts circled in sonic speed and he was upset. This was not how Naruto planned their first day as Genin to be.  
After an hour the turmoil inside of him didn't quiet down so he decided to go back into the village and aimlessly walked around the streets.  
According to his teacher's words she would be back in the evening… '_might be_' Naruto remembered with a bitter feeling in his guts. He did not like Jiji's plan at all, helpful or not! Grumbling he took the next turn and with his eyes to the ground the boy didn't notice the human wall he ran into.  
The collision pushed Naruto back and he fell to the ground, gracefully landing on his butt. His encounters with the villagers were never anywhere pleasant and combined with the lack of sleep and Tenko gone, the boy's mood could be described easily. _Naruto was pissed_.

"Watch where you are going, demon!" The voice of a man was sharp as a knife and made the blonde glare at the old villager with imaginary daggers.  
He rarely got this angry, most of the times he hid his emotions behind a silly grin, loud words or he just pulled pranks on them. But now was not such a time. Now Naruto was angry. He was still confused about the things Mizuki told him about, the village ignoring and hating him for something he could not have influenced.

Naruto got up, held eye contact with the old geezer and brushed off the dirt. While doing that his fingers felt a new hole in his orange pants and a growling noise escaped his throat. The civilian clearly hadn't expected this reaction, his pupils shrank and his breathing got uneven for a moment.

"Can't you just _shut up_?! Everyone insults me all the time and is mean to me. The real monsters are you guys!" his voice exploded and all the people around them stopped their activities, just stared.

"One day I will be Hokage and you _have to _acknowledge and accept me!" After his last statement Naruto jumped onto the nearest rooftop and ran home as fast as humanly possible. He was exhausted, emotionally. He was tired, physically. And he just wanted to get home and bury himself in his bed.  
When he finally closed the door to his apartment behind himself, the boy went straight into his bed, closing the curtains and pulling the blanket over his head. The dirty clothes and shoes Naruto still wore soiled his sheets and the silent tears wet his pillow.

The blonde's shoulders shook with every breath he took, chest and ribcage tightening around his lungs. It hurt him so much, being pushed away by nearly all the citizens of Konoha, all the mean words and glares burned themselves into his mind and wouldn't let got. The hateful eyes on him were a constant companion and when Naruto was younger and brave enough to go to the playground, all the parents immediately pulled their children out of his range.  
Back then Naruto sometimes visited the old man in his office to ask why he was hated so much, not knowing what he did wrong. He'd never gotten a real answer. This disappointed the boy with his new knowledge, but somewhere inside of him he also knew that any information about the Kyuubi could be too much for him. The only difference to now was Tenko, staying by his side and sharing his problem.

After a long time laying in bed and letting the tears wash the hurt and anger away, Naruto got up and frowned when he saw the mess he called his bed. '_Tenko won't like that_' he thought and changed the bed cloth.  
Then he took a long shower and looked down to the animal-friendly shampoo bottle he recently got for his friend. She didn't like baths in her fox form as much as she did as a human. For the short time she actually changed forms she took every opportunity to wash herself or take a shower. As a fox she didn't like it as much, but still let the boy clean her when she was too dirty. 'Maybe_ she doesn't like fur wet_?' at this thought Naruto grinned and he begged Kami-sama to finally let her come home. Tenko might just be gone for a few hours, but he didn't like the circumstances.

Being clean again and wearing his pyjamas Naruto sat down on his bed and waited for his friend to come home. The sun was already setting and since it has been about six to seven hours, Naruto got a bit worried. Kakashi-sensei had said that it could take some time for her to come back so the boy could just wait for her.  
After half an hour the blonde got bored and started kneading and twisting Tenko's teddy. The toy was the latest victim of Naruto spilling cup ramen over it and now, after being stuffed into the laundry machine last evening, it was smelling as good as new and the few saliva stains from Tenko's chewing got out too.

This activity didn't help Naruto beat the time as well as plain waiting didn't do. By now the sun was hiding behind the tall buildings and when Naruto switched on the small lamp next to his bed he found on of his friend's books on the night stand. It was a book Tenko started reading when she was a human and turning pages was less of a problem than with paws.

'_A Shinobi's Guide for Safety Measures' _read the title and the fox had made small notes on the sides of a few pages. She'd stopped at a chapter about the right behaviour in case of a kidnapping. Did she fear to get kidnapped or was she just cautious?

Curiosity got the best of Naruto and he skipped a few pages to a short check list with bullet points how _not_ to talk or interact with a kidnapper if there was hope to be rescued or survive. Under the list was half a page filled with Tenko's handwriting referring to different paragraphs and bullet points, one sentence caught Naruto's attention. '_If happens - notify Kakashi or Pakkun – ghost mode possible_?'

Suddenly Naruto felt heavy, like his body was made of stone. He knew what Tenko meant by ghost mode, the state she was in before she got his chakra, invisible and immaterial. She really planned for such scenarios. Why would she think about that? Was someone after her? Naruto didn't know the answers yet, but he was determined to do all he could do to keep her safe. She was everything he had. Well, now he had his team, but still.

The silence was disrupted by a scratching noise at his door. Naruto beamed up, realising that only Tenko would do that and he quickly put the book back, pushing this conversation into the future. He was just relieved that she was back home, finally! Naruto pulled open the door and pressed Tenko into a bear hug.

The fox clearly had not expected such a greeting and with a "What-" she was pulled against the boy's chest and inside the apartment.  
"Thank god, Tenko, you are back! I was really worried. Do you know how slow times goes by when you just wait?! Kakashi-sensei didn't tell me when you would be back and- oh, yeah. We passed! He actually said we passed after we ignored his instructions and Sakura and Sasuke-teme wanted to share their food and-" but Naruto stopped.

Tenko looked at him with her big, brown eyes, carefully listening and having a warm expression on her face despite the tiredness in her eyes. Naruto pulled her even closer and pressed his face into her fur. "I missed you."  
The fox was still for some time, letting the boy crush her in the hug he needed so much. The villager's words still had their effect on him even if he wouldn't admit it. Seeing Tenko's eyes, no hate, no grudge, no disgust or anything bad was balsam for his soul.

"Who was mean to you, kid?" Tenko whispered into his ear, not hiding her anger at all.  
Naruto already noticed her tendencies to protect him from the people around them, using the villagers' fear of the fox to silence them and defending him in front of his peers. This was something he thought of as endearing.  
Then Naruto finally noticed the dangling back legs from his friend swinging against his knees. He was holding her like a bad of flour again and Naruto knew this was a bit uncomfortable for her. He quickly carried her to his bed and sat her down before finding his place next to her.

Tenko still looked at him, expecting an answer to her question. The boy argued in his head if telling her was the right idea. Last time something similar happened the fox snarled at everybody in a three meter radius around Naruto for a whole week. He couldn't just depend on her, Naruto wanted to be the one protecting her, his precious friend!

"Nah, it's nothing really. Kakashi-sensei told me about your special training and I got a bit sad, because we wanted to go on missions together." Naruto scratched his head nervously and was surprised that the fox wasn't calling out the half truth. She was skilled in reading Naruto after all the time they spend together, but now she was quiet and her expression changed again. To sadness and… guilt?

"I'm sorry, Naruto. I would be with you if I had control over the chakra. It's my fault. But I will make sure we will train together as fast as possible!" she promised him and now Naruto felt bad for making her a guilty conscience. Tenko cuddled into his lap and rubbed her snout against his chest.

Naruto hugged her again before he sat her next to him, turning off the lights.  
"Don't worry, I will become more skilled too and then we are unstoppable. Believe it!" he proclaimed and pulled Tenko against him body and under the blanket. She just nodded and quickly fell asleep. Her training must be hard…

* * *

The next few weeks Naruto was training with Team 7, doing D-rank missions and complaining to Tenko about the stupid and boring stuff they had to do. Tenko on her part always said that her sensei, an actual ANBU, was a slave driver as a teacher. He was very strict with her when they had lessons, correcting every little mistake she made and repeatedly lecturing her for her impatience. When the lessons were over he was back to being a nice man again, petting her on the head and giving her the chicken and noodle food she liked the most.  
Once the chakra in Tenko dangerously flared out of her while she tried to gather it in her feet and her sensei made a strange Jutsu and suppressed her chakra. That evening an ANBU carried her home and just laid her down on Naruto's bed. She slept the whole evening and night and went back to the basics in the next training session.  
Every evening the fox came back home she was very tired and had just enough energy to complain and listed to Naruto talking about his day, the missions or his teammates. After that she fell asleep and just woke up the next morning for her lessons.

After two weeks Naruto caught himself getting annoyed every time Tenko talked about her sensei and their lessons. '_Sensei this, sensei that_' he thought and was grumpy. The next day he was still in a bad mood and after he let the reason for his emotions slip, Sakura had laughed and said that Naruto was jealous of Tenko's sensei to spend more time with her. He denied loudly, but the damage was done and Sasuke-teme and Kakashi-sensei teased him the whole week.  
On the weekends Tenko had some time to spend with Naruto and after the fox complained about her training once more and said that she just wanted to be done learning to control her chakra to go on missions with the blonde boy, his ego grew and her sensei was no problem any more.

Naruto himself was occupied with the missions all week and got more pissed with every mission until Tenko's sensei had to go on a short mission for a day and Tenko was allowed to join them on a D-rank mission… babysitting some spoiled brats.  
The best part had to be Sasuke-teme being helpless and even useless, because he didn't know how to deal with small children. This entertained even Sakura and she let a cute giggle escape her lips. Sadly Tenko was the only real victim of their mission, the two children crawling after her and using her as a plushy toy and even sleeping on her. Kakashi-sensei used the playpen to safe himself by putting the toddlers out of it and himself inside. The small walls kept him out of their reach and every time Tenko jumped inside or squeezed through the plastic bars Kakashi had actually thrown her out towards the children.  
After she was drooled on multiple times, repeatedly ran away from the toddlers when they pulled on her fur and even jumped onto Sasuke-teme's lap for safety once, she was done for the day.  
What surprised every one was the fact that Sasuke did not push the fox away from him and even lifted her up, when the children tried to grab her tails again. He must have felt pity for her or was not as much of a bastard as Naruto expected him to be.  
When the parents came back home, Tenko used the small slit in the opened door to run out of the house like a flash to just get far, far away from the street.

This was the first and last mission she joined them on out of her free will.

* * *

Tomorrow Team 7 would have to catch the stupid cat from some noble woman. Naruto hadn't listened all the way through the mission details, but every ninja was talking about the devil's spawn in disguise of a cat.  
According to legend the cat was even older than the old man, Hokage, as old as Konohagakure itself and every Genin team was tested to catch the demon. But maybe Kakashi-sensei was just joking around.  
Tenko had cringed at the story of the cat and Naruto prayed that his friend could go with them to catch the beast. He knew that Tenko hated cats and she wouldn't be keen on being around the pet, but it had been some times since she joined a mission.  
Tenko just reminded him on the toddler incident and refused.

They talked for a bit and Naruto tried to convince his friend to take a bath. She wasn't smelling bad or was dirty, but because she was shedding her fur coat she had to get rid of the hairs. Normal animals had this in the changing seasons from summer to winter and back, but Tenko just started loosing her thick coat in summer.

"Oh, come on, Tenko. Your fur is everywhere, literally!" Naruto stretched his arms to his sides and pointed all around their apartment. The fox snorted as a reply.  
"No, it is not. And I just loose a bit of hair. So does everyone else."  
"Believe me, it is! Yesterday I took some leftovers from our take-out with me for lunch and I had ten strains of hair around and in the container. TEN." The blonde wasn't angry with her, she was not at fault for the shedding, but he was a bit annoyed with her dislike of wet fur which resulted in all the hair he found in his food. Tenko turned around and made a 'hmpf' sound.

Naruto's mouth fell open, but no sound came out. She really hmpf-ed at him. The blonde quickly grabbed his friend around her middle and ran into the bathroom, shaking her up and down in the act. Inside the room Naruto let her go, pulled the door shut and turned the key, knowing that she wouldn't be able to use her paws to unlock it.  
Tenko turned around and looked at him with big eyes. "Oh no, young man, you won't!" She didn't sound threatening or mad, just not up to the task. Her eyes searched for an escape route, but the lack of windows was to Naruto's advantage.  
He turned on the shower to fill the bath and tried to grab his friend.  
Tenko sidestepped his hand, making him miss her body, but Naruto took another step towards her and his hand quickly followed her movement. Tenko jumped up, avoided his grasp again and landed on his head. When she pushed herself off, Naruto rolled backwards from him crouch and with his arms he pushed himself up to his feet.  
Looking up, he saw the fox squeeze herself onto the top of the bathroom shelf and she just fitted between it and the ceiling. Naruto jumped onto the sink and, feeling a bit sorry for Tenko, grabbed her tails. His friend make a strange squeaking sound and jumped out of her spot. The blonde let go of her tails and jumped after her to the ground, finally getting a fist full of fur. Pulling her up on her neck hair, he turned her to look at him.

"You know, if you had just stepped into the bath, this wouldn't be necessary. You behave like a child", he teased her and sat her into the now filled bath tub. The water immediately soaked the red and white fur, flowing around her body in the water.  
Tenko looked up at the boy through narrowed eyes and pushed air out of her mouth, making is sound like a husky bark. "Says the boy that refuses to eat vegetables."  
"That' something different! The stuff tastes like fuckin' shi-"  
Tenko interrupted him. "Don't use such words!"  
"But you use them all the time!"  
"Because I am older."  
"That doesn't justify it!"  
"Does too!"  
"Does not!"  
"Does too!"  
"Does not!"  
"Does not!"  
"Does too!"  
"Hah! You fell for it!" Tenko grinned victorious.  
The blonde boy just dumped shampoo onto her head and started to bath her. The fox finally stopped struggling and gave in to Naruto's will. Seeing her close her eyes and lean into his hands massaging in the bubbly soap, he clearly saw her enjoyment, but kept silent and grinned like a mad man.  
Afterwards she admitted to feel better and her body stopped itching.

After Naruto dried Tenko with a towel and washed our the tub from the masses of fur sticking to the walls, they made dinner and joked about Sasuke. This started back when they went to Naruto's classes together, because both couldn't deal with the dark haired boy's attitude.  
"And imagine another babysitting mission when Kakashi entrenches himself in the playpen again and Sakura would be sick so she wasn't there to save the bastard from those nasty, sticky fingers. The next time teme has to make a baby burp and have its vomit on his shirt!" The boy fantasized about an imaginary mission, Tenko laughing and rolling on the bed.  
"I would pay to see that!" she said between her laughter.  
Naruto grinned widely and when he looked at his clock, the boy mumbled under his breath. "Man, it is late… we should go to bed." They both sighed and got ready to go to sleep.

The night was quiet and in the morning Naruto escorted Tenko a few streets towards the direction where her training took place.  
"If we get another D-rank mission after this one, I'll explode! My skills and talent is wasted on all the easy tasks we have to do. My competency demands a challenge. Dattebayo!"  
Tenko snickered and said: "I didn't know you could use words like that." She grinned and Naruto pouted the rest of the way until they reached the cross-way at which they had to part.  
"Good luck at your mission with the devil. If it bites you, bite back." Tenko rubbed her head against the blonde's leg and he waved after her, when she followed the next street.

Naruto continued his own way and joined his teammates sitting in front of the mission office. He sat next to Sakura-chan on the bench and followed his friends in leaning against the wall. Sakura had brought a book with her she started reading a few days ago and Sasuke-teme glared at the ground or maybe the dust on his sandals. Naruto pulled out a small sketch book and continued to make drawings of Tenko, Sakura-chan and himself as Hokage.  
They all did this when they met up and had to wait for Kakashi-sensei. Today he was really late, even for his standards. Maybe he had not interest in catching the cat, but to be fair, who did?

* * *

Thank you for your reviews! I am _really_ glad you guys like my story so far.

**Johnscott Weddington:** I really appreciate your reviews and I am very happy to read them. Thank you for your nice comments and also your criticism! :)  
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**Azaira:** Hey, I tried to use your criticism and hope that reading me story is easier now. :) Thank you for reviewing.

Have a great day and very merry christmas to everybody!


	8. Chapter 8

Hello everyone. :)  
First of all: I am sorry it took me so long to update my story. University is keeping me too busy for my liking, but I will do my best to continue writing! Sadly the first exam is comming up so please excure irregular updates for the next month.

* * *

The first two weeks of my chakra training went by in no time and sadly enough there was no real progress. Hokage-sama extended our sessions for four more weeks and Tenzo-sensei was more patient with me than I would ever be with Naruto or even myself.  
The last few days 'we' trained the leaf control exercise and all my small, green leaf did was fall down to the ground and I could clearly hear it laughing at me in my mind.  
Today I caught myself growling at the piece of plant and I was not satisfied with the little progress I made after two more weeks.

The stupid leaf stayed at my forehead for nearly half a second before it rolled down to my nose and sailed back down.  
"God fucking damn it! Why don't you stick, you bastard of a hamster?!" I yelled at the green piece and a sudden outburst of laughter ripped my attention away and towards Tenzo. "Sensei!" I whined and gained a taunting look.  
"The leaf is dry and brown before you can do it."  
"Thank you, now I know I can succeed."  
"Don't look at me, you are bad at it. If I wasn't training you all day long, I'd suspect you to not do anything at all and just waste your great sensei's time."

I looked at my teacher with wide eyes. After four weeks of personal training I learned that Tenzo-sensei was a shinobi that liked to finish his missions efficiently. Followed by all the rules if possible. The fact that my training was his main mission right now was bad luck on his side. It took me three weeks to get a feeling for the Kyuubi's chakra.

Now, it wasn't 'just' the normal feeling of calm chakra when I left it alone, it was still hotter and wilder than your average chakra signature felt like and it also was stubborn. This power still obeyed the damn demon and since him and me didn't share any similarities except our race in general, the chakra didn't care to listen to my will just because I was its new host.

Secretly I would bet my life that the nine-tailed bitch used everything he got to taunt and laugh at me while holding his head high and feeling allmighty.

Last week I actually learned to keep the breakout of chakra somewhat at bay whenever I actively led it somewhere inside my body. Thanks to Tenzo-sensei and his strange wood-jutsu he easily stopped me (and the Kyuubi in one way) from whatever could happen.  
I didn't change my form, again: thanks to Tenzo-sensei and now that I could use 'my' chakra under supervision I was practising this stupid, brain-killing and boring exercise for eight hours straight. I was becoming emotionally raw and attacking the Kyuubi, because this was clearly his fault, was more like a temptation than a mere death sentence.

I pierced a claw into the leaf and put it back onto my forehead. 'Just ones, let it work one time.' I closed my eyes again to concentrate on the chakra inside of me and gathering it where the leaf touched my fur.  
The chakra started swirling again, trying to resist my intentions but still concentrating on my forehead. It got more difficult the more times I tried the exercise, but at the same time I finally learned to keep the wild bubbles on one point and suppress the urge to let it go. One day I would be able to control chakra with ease and laugh the bastard of a fox into his stupid, ugly face!

It would be the same day I'd break all the noses of the root members and poke out Danzo's eye.

The little, stinking fuckers still followed me e-v-e-r-y-d-a-y. Wherever I went a root member followed me.  
A few days ago they annoyed the living shit out of my system and I decided to confront them. I ran directly towards the guy and for nearly two hours I looked like we played tag or just as a poor attempt of murder, since I started cursing and insulting him in all the creative ways I could think of in the time I ran after him.  
When I finally closed in and nearly got him by his leg, Naruto called me all over the roofs with his loud voice and irritated me for a moment. Those couple of seconds were enough for the root shinobi to get away from me and also to stay away for the rest of the day. After this noon they actually kept a bigger distance and whenever I directly looked at them they gave me a little bit more space.

This was in no way perfect but a good start.

Completely captured in my thoughts I didn't notice my sensei walking up to me and laying a second leaf over the first one. Still planning out my revenge against everyone who pissed me off, including the runt and the wicked witch in pink, I growled quietly and snapped back into reality.

Four leaves were stuck against my head and the moment I finally realized what happened, I lost my concentration and they sailed down. Tenzo grinned and brushed his hand through my fur.

He actually left his mask home for our training sessions since the third day and when I first saw his face I admitted that he looked quite cute in some way.  
There were some days where his face scared me to death. Today he made me come early since I didn't show the improvements I was expected to and when I arrived at the house he came around a corner, flash light under his face and pulling a grimace.  
I screamed into his face and stumbled behind the next tree. His laughter and teasing didn't help my case of near cardiac arrest, but he promised me sweets for an agology.

"Finally. What did you thing about to get it done?" I scratched my ear with my leg and grinned back at him.  
"Revenge and bloody murder." His grin slipped for a second and I was sure that he was this relaxed just because we were in such a safe space. Ninja didn't show emotions on a mission and ANBU were the best when it came to hiding their emotions and the silent treatment.  
Here, however, Tenzo-sensei was more relaxed and humorous than he ever was on our roof. I liked that.

"Whatever works best, I guess." He shrugged his shoulders and I continued the exercise once more. Thinking about anything BUT chakra seemed to make it easier for me to keep it constantly where I wanted it to be.  
'_Who's laughing now, foxy_?' I taunted the Kyuubi in my head and when the sun was gone already we finally quit for the day.

With a short farewell I went home and Naruto nearly ripped the door out of its frame when I went up to our apartment. It seemed he was getting better at sensing chakra and distinguishing chakra signatures. He was still bad at it, but I guessed that me being a familiar company was making it easier for his to locate me.

"Tenko, you are back! Thank god, I was just about to find Kakashi-sensei to help me search for you, dattebayo!" He pulled me into an embrace and my spine make a cracking sound.  
"Na- Naruto, air" I pressed the two words out and was sure that my face would be purple was I a human.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, forgot 'bout that. He… he..." He sat me down and crossed his hands behind his head. Gasping I stumbled inside and went to my water bowl.  
"You won't believe it, but we got our first C-Mission! We will be gone for some weeks I think and have to escort some stupid drunk. After our mission he will learn to respect the great Uzumaki Naruto!" He declared loudly and I was sure that the man would learn about how to deal with a tinnitus before he respected my room mate.

The rest of the evening Naruto prepared everything for his mission and he told me about where they would go to, what a waste of awesome shinobi skills this 'lame' escort mission was and that he would come back much stronger, because he would be practising the shit out of his body. I decided not to comment on his choice of words and nod at the appropriate moments.

I still was not allowed to join on missions because of my slow development and 'being a burden'. I hated this phrase, but sadly it was the truth. Naruto knew this as well as I did and promised to tell me everything when he came back and that we would be together on the next mission.

It was nice to have Naruto around me and actually being excited about a mission for once so I chuckled when we went to bed and he fell asleep mid-sentence.

.

The next morning I went to see Naruto off at the gated and when we got there, the runt and his witch were waiting for everyone else. Next to them was an old man, wearing civilian clothes in green and light brown and a straw hat. He was eyeing the Genin with a strange look that clearly showed his distaste in the chosen team of shinobi.

Sakura gave me a short nod as a greeting and I mirrored it. Since the babysitting mission we somewhat got to the point where we could tolerate the others existence. The Uchiha never mentioned his rare act of kindness, saving me from glue-covered toddler hands, and we went back to ignoring each other and occasionally glaring at or insulting each other.  
Yes, life was good.

"Hah, I didn't know ninjas could bring their pets with them." When I heard the sentence leave the clients mouth my mood swings were quicker than Sakura's between fangirling and knocking my blonde friend over the head. I looked up at the man and once again I hated being knee-high.

"I didn't know pigs could talk, but look what we have here", I hissed back and suddenly I was pulled up at the fur in my neck. Circling in the hold of my captor Kakashi came into sight and his eye smile was not happy at all. I tried an apologetic smile and Kakashi's index finger waved in front of my face. "Now, now, Tenko-chan. Be a nice fox and don't insult our client."

I mumbled incoherent words under my breath and was sat back onto the ground.  
"He still started it." I said more to myself and let Naruto hug me.  
"Take care and kick ass, Naruto." I licked his nose once and Naruto grinned at me like the small ray of sunshine he was.

Just behind the gates the boy completely forgot his rude client and got excited about being outside and with a chuckle I left for my own training. No way I would be late and make Tenzo-sensei wait for me… he'd be mean and make me run laps again.

* * *

The next one and a half days I still trained the boring leaf exercise which was so problem anymore- fuckin' finally! Tenzo-sensei also allowed me to try and walk up a tree since I was mostly able to control chakra outbursts.  
One time Tenzo had to use his wood-jutsu, because a red cloak began covering me.

This happened when I fell onto my head after I started walking up the tree and loosing control, because I was thinking too much about the chakra and then, boom, it was back to obeying the damn demon.  
So I lost the grip to the tree and when I fell onto my skull, the dull throbbing in my head drowned the strange feeling off the wild chakra. Before I could react Tenzo-sensei took over and suppressed the Kyuubi's chakra saving the situation.

Now I was back in Naruto's bed since this Jutsu always made me feel exhausted and tired. I was sure, my sensei was with the Hokage, reporting about today's mishap. Burying my head under the pillow I tried to ignore the pain in the back of my head and find a way to sleep. I just wanted to be able to control chakra and help Naruto out on his missions. Was I really asking for too much?!

Suddenly my whole body shivered and I felt like my mind was spinning in circles. Dizziness washed over me and with a pitiful moan I opened my eyes to get to the bathroom. I wasn't keen on vomiting into the bed.

When I opened my eyes I didn't see anything. I closed them and waited a few seconds before opening them again. There was still the darkness around me. Rapidly blinking wasn't helping either. Being confused and afraid that I miraculously went blind I was starting to hyperventilate, but a small light far ahead of me gave me some feeling that I was, in fact, not blind at all.

Standing up and slowly moving towards the orange-red light I also noticed that I was walking through water. It reached my upper legs and was lukewarm.

"Hello?" I called out into the darkness and only heard my echo. "Huh, that's strange."

After walking for some time I finally reached the light. It looked like a small flame, flickering just above the water and when my paw touched it, the flame got bigger and bigger. It was not hot, just comfortably warm and felt like the chakra blanket I sensed the first time I met Naruto three months ago. The flame got bright and I had to squeeze my eyes shut for a moment.  
When I blinked again and tried to get rid of the light spots in my vision I gasped and tried to walk backwards, stumbling and rolling onto my back. The water soaked my fur, but now it felt cold as ice, creeping into my body while the air was hot and stuffy.

My eyes were big brown circles and I was not able to take them off of the gigantic fox head behind bars. I realized that this was just the head and my body would easily fit onto the tip of his nose. Huge, sharp eyes looked down at me, stabbing into my body like daggers of hate and disgust.  
A low growl made the ground tremor and shake.

"**You little insect. I should crush you like the leech you are**." The voice was that of hate, rage and a promise of death. My mouth went open without a single sound and I felt like I was chocking on air.  
In front of me, sitting in a sealed cage with metal bars was the Kyuubi. I'd never seen him before, but the chakra and those eyes were all I needed to identify him as the breathing force of nature he was. A deadly force of nature.

"**But I can not do it, the damn seals prevent me from killing you. Curse those Hokages, curse the blondes. What a real let-down. Now, you little shit, you will listen and obey, like the minion you should be**." He made a short pause, big pupils wandering down to me and a contemptuous sound left his throat. "**Pathetic… stand up, you maggot.**"

Quickly I stood up with shaking knees, trying to get my body back under my control. This monster said it himself, he was a prisoner who couldn't hurt me. The terror I felt still didn't leave me though. A devious grin appeared on the fox's lips as he looked at my standing form.

"**The brat is on a mission right now and he shows suicidal tendencies as a response to danger. He ran into a fucking sword wielding ninja to get his head protector back. One day the boy kills us all… and I'll have no change to kill him first.**"  
His voice send shivers down my spine and after the meaning of his words finally got into my head I lifted my eyes to his face.

"Wait a minute… kill us all?" The Kyuubi grunted and clicked his tongue.  
"**Took you long enough! The child is my prison or host, whatever you want to call it. If he dies, so do I. You use my chakra and should I die, my chakra leaves you. I don't have to explain what happens if a living creature has no chakra left, do I?**"

I shook my head. "If Naturo dies, you die. If you die, I will die, too." My voice sounded more steady and grounded than I was feeling right now, not only surprising myself, but also the fox demon.  
He nodded and an upcoming thought seemed to displease him.

"**This is what you will do: from now on, you go onto every fucking mission, the kid goes on. You protect him and catch a bullet for him. He _cannot _die**."  
There was no question in his words, it was a command.

I didn't know where the bravery came from, but I did not agree with that and raised my voice.  
"What? No! I don't have a death wish! And I like to live as much as you do. Whatever Naruto did on the mission is on his account. And let me remind you that your stubbornness makes it impossible for me to go on missions. You hinder me on using your fucking chakra!"

I had started screaming at the fox and when I was done, I was breathing heavily and imitated his death glare.  
The demon was quiet for a moment and then broke out in a deep laughter.

"**You little maggot really think, you are in any place to talk back to me?**" A sharp, long claw shot out between the metal bars and sped towards me. At the last second I was able to jump back and avoid getting impaled by a hair's breadth. The cage stopped him and he wasn't reaching me.

I grinned and showed my teeth.  
"Well, looks to me like you are the one who shouldn't talk back. You can't hurt me!"

Now I had to be clever. Admitting, that everything the fox said about Naruto's talent to run head-on into danger and the possible consequences, our all death, was correct, I had to find a solution. A compromise maybe. If I only were able to use Jutsus and… That's it!

"How about we call it a truce? You will finally allow me to use the chakra I… borrowed from you and in return I will try to protect Naruto to the best of my abilities. Preferably without dying. Deal?"  
My voice echoed from the walls and only a steady growl from inside the cage disturbed the silence.

"**I won't tolerate your sense of self-preservation if it means the boy will die. You would die either way so don't forget it.**" He spat the words at me and I could clearly hear his hatred for me. Having an animal a thousandth of your own height set conditions would not be my most favourable outcome after all.

Grinning widely I nodded.  
"Oh, when we are still at it. I don't know if the chakra reserves I can use due to the seals in my ears are enough to support Naruto. It was a precaution, but I won't need it any more with full control over it. Can we alter the seals? And can you tell me, why I was able to change forms?"

The big boy shrugged his huge shoulders, still mentally dealing with my existence.  
"**I can help you with the first problem, you just have to come a step closer. But the second… I have no fucking idea. You are a deformity.**"

Wow, that was a verbal kick against the head. I sneered.  
"Sure I come closer. Then you can kill me and I don't think so!" The monster rolled his eyes.  
"**We just called it a truce and I keep my promises. I'm a fucking monster, demon, whatever, not a liar. Move your damn ass over here, you insult of a fox.**"

Grumbling I considered his words before taking a few steps forward. Not expecting his claw to move, my heard felt like exploding when it moved to my head. I could just close my eyes and hope to die fast. The deadly hit never came, instead a burning sensation spread in my ears and when I opened my eyes and gave the demon a confused look, he smirked like the Uchiha brat, clearly thinking of himself as the better being.

I pulled my paw up and against my ear just to feel something wet on my fur. Pulling back, my white furred paw was blood red. My eyes widened at the sight and I tried to feel for my ears again. Had he cut them off?!

"**Relax, you stupid thing. I just cut the skin open to make the seals useless. No need to panic, you fucker.**" More insults, great. I put my paw into the water on the ground and hoped for it to wash the blood away.

"**You should find the boy and protect him. My chakra will help you to track him down. You know in which direction Wave is?**" I nodded. "**Good, now fuck off.**"

With this I was suddenly falling and pushed out from wherever I was at.  
I opened my eyes and found myself back in Naruto's bed and under his pillow. Getting up and looking around I could confirm my presence in the familiar apartment. The only evidence that my meeting with the Kyuubi was no dream was the steady stinging in my ears where he destroyed the seals.

Then I remembered what he said about Naruto and his mission.  
"Oh, he is so dead when I get to him! And then I beat him back to life!" I got up and stretched my legs out. The fox said I would be able to find Naruto with 'my' chakra, but how?  
I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on the flow in my body. When I touched it, it obeyed my will without hesitation, so Kyuubi really allowed me to control his chakra. Sweet!

Grinning I let go of the chakra and noticed that it was no longer blue, just orange and red. I also felt something like a thread leading somewhere. It was pulling me and when I mentally tried to feel for it I knew, that this was what my new buddy meant.

I expected something else, maybe just a feeling or something similar to a scent, but this was even better. With some trouble I was able to push the window open just wide enough to push myself out. Just before following my mentally visible thread my nose caught the rotten smell of a root member. This fucker actually dared to sit on _MY_ roof?!

I jumped up and growling I ran the few steps towards a very surprised man. He quickly rolled out of the way and I showed my teeth. "Fuck off, man, you guys annoy me!" I followed him over a couple of roof tops before quickly jumping down to the street and hiding between the legs of the villagers. I begged that the shinobi wouldn't find me for the time I needed to leave the village.

As quietly as I could I followed the people into another street and continued to sneak from barrel to box, always staying in the shadows of the houses. When I reached the main gate I took the way around the last few houses, jumping through gardens and settling under a bush. I concealed the chakra and sneaked behind the booth, the patrolling shinobi always sat in to see who went through the gates.

Two young men sat in the booth and it seemed that they were busy with something, but if I learned one thing in the last nine months I was in Konoha, it was that a ninja was never as inattentive as he might look.

Somewhere a god or devil, I was doubting any god's existence after all my useless praying, had decided to help me, because I was just thinking how to escape their sharp eyes when a small child stumbled just a few meters away from us and fell into the dirt. His pain filled screams got the shinobis' attention and I used those precious seconds to leave.

Now I just had to follow the pull on my chakra and I would be with Naruto in no time!

* * *

Never again! Never in my life would I underestimate the length to travel to Wave or anywhere else again. And I hated all the running. I hated being active!  
I was running for hours now, just stopping to drink from the small rivers or taking a potty break. Naruto better appreciated my efforts or I would be petty!  
And damn the Kyuubi. It was his fault from the beginning!

Grumbling I came to a halt when I reached water. The thread was pointing directly into the water, but thanks to all the mist I wasn't able to see anything else. I was just learning to walk onto trees and this was a complete failure. I saw Kakashi and many other shinobi walk on water so I knew it was possible.  
So here I was, standing at the shore, thinking about attempting to walk on water, as a fox. Great.

Taking a deep breath I gathered chakra into my paws, slowly lowering my front paw onto the water. Surprisingly my paw stayed dry and didn't sink into the fluid. '_Maybe this wasn't as difficult as everybody made it look like?_'

I took a brave step onto the water and when my other front paw left the solid ground, the chakra got disrupted by a small wave and I fell into the water face first. Immediately paddling with all my might I got back to the surface and took a deep breath.  
Getting back onto the water with chakra didn't work out so I gave into my fate and started paddle-swimming towards the threads direction.

After some time I was exhausted, my legs grew heavy on me and I was short on breath. The only thing keeping my head over water was my stubbornness and the chakra thread, which felt stronger then ever. It couldn't be much longer… I actually told myself this sentence for the last ten minutes and I still haven't found anything but water.

It got really difficult for me to stay over the water surface with every paddling movement I made. One moment I didn't concentrate and a small wave surprised me, pushing me under water. Hectically I paddled back up and coughed out the small amounts of water I swallowed thanks to the wave.

My eyes were filling with water and my tears, panic started crawling through my body and the exhaustion didn't help either. Being occupied with my own panic attack I didn't notice the small boat coming near me from behind until a hand grabbed me in the neck and pulled me out of the water.

I was sat onto the wooden ground and just fell onto my tummy. Breathing heavily I opened my eyes and saw a kid sitting in front of me. He wore a white hat with two blue strips and a jumpsuit with a shirt underneath. In one of his hands he held a short fishing rod which he laid down to row the boat.  
"Poor thing… Ah, don't worry, you are safe now. I'll get us back home so you can sleep now."

With all the running and swimming I was way too tired to answer him or ask where 'home' was and just fell into a much needed dreamless sleep.

* * *

**Qwerty224**: Thank you for your nice review. :3 I appreciate it. ^^

**Unwanted Writer**: And once again thank _you_ for your comments. I really like and appreciate them and I am very happy that you like my fanfic. :)

**iMayBeACatPerson**: Thank you for your comment and criticism. :) I hope this time is is easier to read this chapter.


	9. Chapter 9

Hello everyone. :)  
I actually managed to write a chapter between univerity and studying. :D  
The gang is together again and I plan to include more humour into it, since the last events are a bit more serious.  
But just jokes and happy feeling aren't how life works, so Tenko has to deal with whatever life throws at you.  
I hope you like it. :)

* * *

The small boy had sneaked out of his home to the old boat he used to row around the small island he and his family lived on with the other villagers.  
His mother wouldn't allow him to use it in fear of Gato and his minions to see him, but he only went out in the mist to hide himself.

Today Inari wanted to fish something to surprise his mother and cook the fish for dinner. Instead of fish he'd found a red animal after sailing for a few minutes into the sea. It was hectically paddling and seemed very tired already. '_Maybe a cat that fell of the bridge and couldn't find its way back to the shore_', the boy thought.

He quickly came near the red furred animal and grabbed it to get it inside. It was quite heavy for Inari's small arms and took all his strength to pull the wet animal inside his boat. When the boy laid it down, he noticed that the cat was in fact a fox. Its eyes were red from the salt water and it was taking in the air in hectic, needed breaths before it warily looked up to the boy.

"Poor thing… Ah, don't worry, you are safe. I'll get us back home so you can sleep now." Inari hoped the fox understood that he meant no harm and immediately started rowing back home.

Tying the old boat to the landing stage, the boy had some difficulty to pick the fox up. It wasn't the biggest animal you could find in the village, but the small boy's arms weren't long enough to just carry the unconscious animal back home. Its weight was also a bit much for him.

After rearranging the limp body, Inari finally managed to get the fox's front legs and its head over his shoulder and support its back and behind with his arms.  
Carefully he started his short was home and when he finally arrived, his clothes were wet thanks to the animal's fur. Balancing on one leg, he pushed the front door open with one foot and went inside.

Strangely his mother wasn't in the kitchen where she'd usually be at the time of the day. Quickly looking outside the back door, he couldn't see his mother in the small garden either.  
He went back inside and finally noticed the many pairs of shoes and sandals in the entrance area. Before he was to focused on finding his mother to really see them. Those shoes couldn't be from Gato's minions, they wouldn't have the decency to take them off. So his mother had to have guests over.

Hearing voices from the old guest room, the small boy went closer and overheard some voices talking about a ninja hired by Gato they thought was dead, but wasn't and who wanted to kill them or something. Around the corner he could see three kids only a few years older then himself and a man sitting on a futon. They were clothed in ninja attire and one of them wore orange clothes. '_Which normal person would wear that colour?! Does he want to get killed this badly?_' Inari shook his head and his eyes wandered to his mother and he also saw his grandfather sitting next to her. He was back!  
The ninjas still talked about the assassin that wanted to kill them and the boy interrupted their conversation.

"You ninjas will just die. Nobody can take on Gato… Grandpa, welcome back." He ran the few meters through the room and pushed himself against his grandfather.

"Look, I found this fox near our village. I think the waved pushed it off the shore and deeper into the sea. If it's tame, can we keep it?" He carefully laid the fox down for his grandpa and mother to take a look at it.

"Inari, how can you say this to them? They protected your grandfather from bad people! And why did you bring a wild animal inside?" His mother scolded, but sat down next to the ball of red fur after she apologized for her sons behaviour.

Inari was too focused on the rescued animal that he didn't notice the ninjas widening eyes when his mother pulled the fox in her lap to inspect it. She was upset her son had brought it with him, but it was out for good right now and she felt pity for the animal.

...

Kakashi was the first to find his voice and looked at his blond student who imitated a pillar of salt, just as unmoving and seemingly not breathing either.

"...Naruto?" he hesitated, not knowing whether or not it was right to say something and the other Genin were just as tense as Kakashi was himself. Kakashi was no people's person, so he wouldn't even know what to say. Sure, the fox was not dead judging by the little intruder's words, but the Jonin also was not comfortable with comforting Naruto; or anyone else, to be fair.  
Also, knowing Naruto's explosive behaviour, Kakashi wasn't too sure how the boy would react.

...

Sakura took a deep breath and a tense look was wandering from Naruto to the limp body. They all could see the small movements of her chest to breath, but how did Tenko end up near the village? And in this condition?  
There was no way she just took a wrong turn and ended up in Wave.  
Tenko was nowhere near being a friend of the pink haired girl and Sakura had only seen her at the babysitting mission since they passed Kakashi's bell test. The little beast even bit her a few times back at the academy so Sakura wasn't too fond of the fox whenever she was around.  
There was the truce they called after Sakura enjoyed the scene of children running after the fox and Kakashi throwing her back into the war zone. At this evening Sakura felt some sympathy for the animal, but the bad experiences they had overweighted it yet.  
But despite the animal's insults the girl had a big heart and even felt sorry for Naruto to see his friend laying there like a wet bag of potatoes.

...

Sasuke didn't show concern as openly as his teammates did, still in denial with himself about being even a bit unsettled, being an Uchiha non the less. Sure, he didn't like Naruto's friend. And he was annoyed with her behaviour around him. And he didn't like it how she challenged his death glares. And how she glorified the stupid, dead last dope around him. And she once tried to bite him, how dare she?!  
'_Huh, I really don't have a__ny__ reason to like her._' Sasuke crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared at the unconscious and unmoving body.  
After the fox was gone the first day they were a team, everybody somehow had to manage living with the others around them. Meaning Sasuke helped them see that he was better and they were pretty much useless to him.

After a month of stupid D-rank missions and their fight with Zabuza, Sasuke had to admit that Naruto somehow got to him, under his skin to be precise. His constant competitions and declarations about them being rivals and the dope becoming Hokage grew to the Uchiha and Naruto even managed to make Sasuke see him as the teammate the blonde actually was. OF COURSE, no Uchiha could ever dream about saying _that_ just out loud. A real Uchiha never would and so wouldn't Sasuke.

Looking at the red furred animal and then seeing Naruto's open display of emotions he was going through in just a few seconds made Sasuke feel a bit sorry for Naruto.  
He wouldn't admit it, but he did. After all he wasn't as cold hearted as…. The man he had to kill.

...

Naruto broke out of his unmoving state and slowly went over to the woman holding his friend. It was no question if it was truly her. The white patters on her fur and, of course, the two tails were something Naruto could identify blindly.

The blonde boy reached out with a shaking hand, then momentarily hesitated, before laying his hand onto the slightly moving chest and feeling Tenko's heart beat.

...

Inari had taken a step to the side, observing the scene in front of him with sharp eyes. After fishing the fox out of the cold water Inari hoped the fox was tame. She didn't attack him or looked too scared. Another reason could have been her exhaustion after struggling to stay alive, but somewhere Inari had hoped to find a new friend.  
Like the puppy he once had, but who abandoned him, when he wasn't fast enough to jump after him.  
The young boy wanted a friend that couldn't hurt with words and who had no mind like humans. They were mercenary, self-centred meanies. Animals were much nicer and for his short walk home he really hoped his mother allowed him a new pet.  
But the fox already had an owner, Inari realised sadly. He didn't know.

He hadn't known that those ninjas were here either. He hadn't known that they were reckless enough to go against Gato, the man was a death sentence on two legs!  
'_They are stupid if they think they're able to stop him, just like…_'  
At this thought Inari bit his lower lip and tried to suppress his tears. Death was cruel, life was cruel. Being alive just meant to suffer through everything life threw at you without rebelling and hoping to grow old.  
What he was seeing right now just proved his point. The fox surely was a victim of the fight the ninjas had talked about when he came home. Maybe they had thought the fox was already dead and given up on it.

After all: Trying to help others only brought death and misery.

...

Naruto took Tenko into his arms and cradled her while burying his head inside her wet fur. '_She stinks of seawater. Guess, she has to take a bath when she's awake_' he thought and a small grin came onto his face.  
He didn't know how Tenko came here or why, but he was glad she did and that she was alive. Naruto could feel her chakra whirl in her body, weak but it was reassuring him that his friend was just asleep. The blonde boy turned around to his teammates and gave them a big smile.

"She's okay." he said with relief in his voice and immediately Team 7 relaxed a bit. Even the Uchiha-bastard rolled his shoulders once. '_Hah! The teme does have a heart!_'

"This happens, when you go against Gato and think you can beat him. You end up just like the fox!" Inari's voice earned everyone's attention and his mother opened her mouth to protest against her son's behaviour, but Naruto was quicker.

"Don't you dare and underestimate Tenko! And don't underestimate me! I am Uzumaki Naruto and I will be the greatest Hokage that ever lived, believe it! I will be a superhero! Some criminals like that Gato-guy got nothing on me and I won't let them hurt my friends!" The blonde declared just as proud as he was loud.

"Don't be an idiot, there is no such thing as a superhero!" The small boy's voice got colder and he gave Naruto an angry glare.

The Genin laid his furred friend onto the futon his sensei was sitting on before facing the rude boy again. This sentence just pissed the ninja off and he would wash the boy's head for saying it.

"You little...-" Quickly Sakura was at his side and grabbed her impulsive teammate to stop him from being stupid and attacking the boy.

"Stop it, Naruto!" She pulled against him and got him in a secure hold, burying her heels in the wooden ground.

"If you don't want to die, you should leave… and take better care of your 'friends'. Seems like your protection is a piece of crap." Inari went to the door and told his grandfather he wanted to look at the sea. After he'd closed the door, the boy quickly went to his room and hugged the framed photo like it could safe him from drowning.

...

Downstairs Naruto sat down next to Tenko and thought about the boy's words. He was just stupid, not knowing what he was talking about, he concluded.  
Inari's mother came back with a towel for their new guest and Naruto thanked her before wrapping his furred friend in it.

"Naruto, do you know why she came after us? Tenko isn't supposed to leave the village." Kakashi wasn't sure if the boy had convinced the fox to follow after them or if she came out of free will. Either way, the Hokage wouldn't be happy when he heard about the little runaway, but Kakashi couldn't just send Tenko back, he knew that. How she survived until now was a small miracle to the Jonin, knowing her dislike in activity, lack of chakra control and all. A walk to Wave was nothing the fox would do on a whim, Kakashi was sure of this.  
It had to be out of pure luck that the boy found her, judging by the animal's state.

"No, Sensei. But I'll ask her when she wakes up." Naruto cradled her with his arms again, suddenly stopping in his motion.

"What is it?" Sakura gave them a worried look. The boy's eyes widened and the kunoichi was not sure how to read his reaction. Tenko was still breathing evenly.

"She's absorbing a bit of the K-, my chakra. This is good, right? It must be." Naruto answered her question and had nearly said something he didn't want his teammates to know yet.  
Sasuke had noticed Naruto's strange slip of his tongue, but chose to ignore it for now. Were summons supposed to just absorb ones chakra?

"So, she just has to sleep, huh?" He commented and when his peers and sensei gave him a surprised look for his open display of interest, he just turned away from them with a single "hn".

"Why is she absorbing your chakra? I thought a summon has its own." Sakura spoke out Sasuke's question.  
Naruto looked at Kakashi for support with an 'Ehm' and didn't know how to answer his teammates question. As dense as Naruto could be he had understood that Tenko was the odd one out when it came to summons since she needed 'his' chakra and also that his peers didn't know about the Kyuubi inside of him.

Honestly, Naruto was afraid to tell them and scare them away. All the adults always pushed him away, directed their pain and hate for the catastrophe with the demon against the blonde and kept him isolated in the village. Now Naruto finally found people who didn't hate him, a team and he didn't want to loose them.

"Tenko is a bit different from your average summon. My ninken for example can go back into their dimension and regenerate. She isn't able to be summoned and therefore can't leave from here. That's why she needs the special training and absorbs Naruto's chakra when she is this exhausted. Regenerating would take just too long." Kakashi came to the rescue.

Sakura nodded and Sasuke gave a "hn" for a reaction. They had known that Tenko was with Naruto 24/7, but they weren't aware that it had such a disadvantage.

...

Tazuna released a heavy sigh and shook his head. He clearly got the weirdest team Konoha had to offer.  
A powerful Jonin who was ready to sacrifice himself for little brats and their mission to a S-class shinobi, a squeaking fangirl with borderline tendencies, a skilled but narcissistic boy more silent than a rock, a blonde boy competing the sun with his clothes, loud, and dreams too big for his health.  
And now the boy's pet arrived, showing suicidal tendencies just to get to the strange team.

Had the Hokage seen through Tazuna's quest for an escort and decided to punish him with those people?

"Please excuse my grandson's behaviour, he is a good boy." He apologised in Inari's place. Tazuna still needed them to protect him so playing nice for a change it was.

"Being good or not, he is stupid to think, that we just leave and abandon you guys." Naruto snarled, still a bit pissed at the boy. The blonde decided that Inari needed to get a piece of Naruto's mind to think straight again. He pushed Tenko into Sakura's arms and went out to find the boy.

...

Sakura was a bit startled when she suddenly found herself with the fox in her arms. To her surprise, Tenko was heavier than she looked and the pink haired girl quickly had to tighten her grip on the limp body.

"Naruto, what-" but the boy was already gone… great.  
Sakura turned around and saw Sasuke move a step away from her, not wanting to be near the summon and Kakashi-sensei just scratching the back of his head.

"What am I supposed to do now?" The Genin vocalised her thoughts. Both males just shrugged and Sakura rolled her eyes. After the babysitting mission she shouldn't expect any willingness to help her take care of a living being at all. So she tightened the towel around Tenko's body and started rubbing her fur dry.

After a few minutes drying the animal and listening to Kakashi and Sasuke planning their next moves the fox budged under Sakura's hands. Green eyes locked onto the waking animal and the girl sat the animal down onto Kakashi's blanket, not knowing how the fox would react to being close with her.

* * *

I felt something move over my body, soft strokes pulled me out of the darkness I found myself in. '_My body hurts, but why_?' I took a deep breath in and noticed my chest tightening and weak chakra run through my body. '_Oh, yeah… I was drowning and the boy pulled me inside a boat_.' My ears pricked up and I tried to listen to my surroundings, but I could just hear a hand full of different heartbeats and people breathing.

Slowly I opened my eyes and had to blink a few times before the blur in my vision disappeared a bit. My eyes were still burning from the salt water and I had to squint them to see who was standing next to me. I was laying on a blanket and in front of me was the Uchiha brat, next to me was the pink witch.  
'_I guess, I made it somehow?'_ I pushed my head from the blanket and looked around, finally noticing Kakashi sitting on the futon behind me. He looked like shit, very tired. Then my eyes found the old drunkard Naruto had to escort for their mission.  
I pulled up a paw and rubbed my eyes.

"Hey..." I greeted them and had to clear my throat. My voice sounded foreign to me, raspy and deep. A smiling woman entered the room and put a bowl with water in front of me.  
"Thanks" I cawed. She jumped when she heard my voice and looked at me with wide eyes.

"You can talk?" Her voice carried her surprise but still sounded very nice and soft. I nodded and drank a bit of the water.

"Where is Naruto? And the boy that got me out of the water?" I looked around me again. Was Naruto wounded? Where was he?

"Maa, Tenko-chan. Naruto went after the boy. It seems he is the grandson of our client and he brought you here. Say, what are _you_ doing here?" The last sentence had a strict and icy touch to it and I winced, then gave a forced laugh.  
I realised, I was in trouble. Of course I would be, I wasn't allowed out of the village and I knew that my overhasty leave was not appreciated, but I had to!

"Let's say I made a pact with the devil and came here to fulfil my part." Now I earned everyone's attention.

"You _what_?" was Sakura's legitimate question. I scratched my ear.  
"Yeah, long story. Kakashi, I have to talk to you and Naruto about this." I hinted at the Jonin and he got what I implied.  
"We will talk about it when we have some time."

...

Naruto was very happy to find Tenko awake and responsive.  
He was even happier to hear the word 'training' and Kakashi led them to a clearing. It was strange to the children seeing their sensei walk on crutches but at least he was able to walk.  
All four of them had big eyes when Kakashi started climbing the tree vertically on his crutches.

Stalking Kakashi for some time in her invisible state, Tenko had seen the man do this activity a few times already, but it was still cool, especially with the wooden support. The Jonin explained the technique briefly, too briefly for Tenko's taste, but she kept silent. Then the four of them were allowed to try it themselves.

Naruto ran up like a mad man just to loose his grip and fall to the ground with all the grace he didn't have. Sasuke grinned stupidly and failed himself.

"Hah! Serves you right, runt!" Tenko laughed out loud and earned not just a glare from Sasuke but also Kakashi.

"Tenko-chan, come over here, please." Kakashi called her over.  
"But I haven't tried walking up the tree yet."  
"You can do that later." Tenko sighed, obeyed and walked over the clearing to the Jonin. Seeing a serious expression in his eye, the summon tensed a bit. Did she do something wrong?  
Kakashi looked at her for a minute, silent.

"You know, that the Hokage decided to give you special training for your chakra control, right?" She nodded. "Well, that's only one of two reasons." There was a short pause.

"Hokage-sama knew about the bond you and Naruto developed over the last months and he also heard about your… interactions with Saukra-chan and Sasuke-kun. You guys were far from nice to each other and Naruto focussed strongly on you. We couldn't have this continue in Team 7, to be frank."  
Tenko opened her mouth, but Kakashi raised a hand to signal her that he wasn't done yet.

"You know how important teamwork is in our profession and it can decide not only over the outcome of a mission but also the lives of the teammates. Naruto was too dependent of you, he values your opinion and therefore his behaviour towards Sakura and Sasuke was influenced by you. You don't like them and are quite vocal about it, as are they.

"We couldn't risk it to continue and decided to separate you two and have Naruto spend his time with his new team, get to know them and bond with them. Sakura and Sasuke needed a chance to be around Naruto without you, too. They were even more defensive with you around and had to learn about Naruto as he is without you constantly around.

"Sasuke and him always bicker around, but it is something that motivates them, pushes them to get better. Their whole strange friendship is based on it and if you take your time to look at them, all three, you'll see how much they developed as a team."

Kakashi gave the fox a minute to process everything he just said.  
Tenko was a display of emotions. First her face went blank when he told her their reason. Then a certain bitterness showed itself, followed by anger which was pushed away by some sort of sadness. She looked to the ground, then up towards the three Genin and back at Kakashi. Her jaw tightened for a second before she looked back to the ground. Her claws dug themselves into the grass and dirt and then Kakashi read the final emotion on her face, hurt.

The fox seemed hurt and Kakashi played with the thought of apologising for telling her this late. He wouldn't.

"So… instead of telling me you just kept me away from him?" her voice sounded foreign, similar to when she woke up two hours ago. Kakashi didn't overhear the tremor in the words. Sure, it wasn't nice but the world wasn't nice either and this was the best solution for the whole team.

"Look-" The Jonin wanted to put his hand on her head like his did many times before, but Tenko quickly pulled away.  
"Don't… just give me some time." She stood up and went away from him, back to the house of their client.

In the meantime Sakura had finished the task and grinned while looking at the boys struggle to balance their chakra. When Kakashi praised her, her ego grew two times it's size. The man leaned back against the tree and closed his eye for a moment.  
Being a Jonin for a team of Genin was nearly as stressful as being ANBU just more, how would the Nara phrase it… troublesome.

...

I arrived at the house and went in through the open window. Getting someone's attention to open the door was too laborious. Inside I went back into the room Kakashi's futon was placed in a corner and I curled myself in a ball on top of it.

Those words did hurt, but sadly I could understand their point of view. '_Sure, the pink- Sakura and I called a truce, but the Uchiha and I didn't and the three of us are nowhere near to be friends or even acquaintances._'  
"Shit" I cursed quietly.

The sound of the door being pushed open pulled me out of my self-pity and I saw the small boy that saved me come in. He noticed that I was awake and his eyes grew big, before he looked at the ground. '_Did something happen while I was out cold?_'

"Thank you for rescuing me. I am Tenko." I offered a conversation, pushing my feeling away.  
"Inari. You're welcome." I nodded. "You could have died." I wasn't sure how to respond.

"That's true." Wow, I really knew how to have a conversation.  
Inari came near and sat down next to me. His fingers began dancing through my fur and I laid my head in his lap.  
Sitting like this in silence for over an hour gave me the opportunity to overthink what Kakashi had said and I had to admit, he was still right. It took me quite some effort to call them by their real names while _thinking_ and acting like a brat in front of Naruto was just counterproductive. It still wasn't easy to accept the truth.  
Maybe I could try and be more nice or help them to bond. '_A good friend would to this for Naruto._' I pulled a grimace. Being a good friend certainly wouldn't be easy.

Inari suddenly stopped petting me and I raised my eyes to him, taking notice that he fell asleep. '_Cute boy_.' I cuddled myself a bit more against the boy and decided to take a nap.

In the evening Inari's mother prepared dinner for everyone and while we gathered around the table, Sasuke and Naruto threw glares like grenades at each other, shovelling food down their throats like there was no tomorrow.  
I ate a bit rice drenched in miso soup and enjoyed it. When I saw the boys downing their seconds I couldn't suppress a comment.

"And I always thought I was the wild animal at the table."  
Naruto and Sakura snickered at my comment and even Kakashi let out an amused sound. The Uchiha directed his next glare at me.

"Which wild animal would eat canned dog food? You are a pet." Wow, that hurt. I let out a low growl, but one look from Kakashi made me shut the fuck up and just finish my meal. '_Damn brat, I'm going to kill him and beat his little ass back to life. Walking piece of hamster crap._'  
I continued with my silent cursing until dinner was over and we all made ourselves ready to got to bed.

"Ah, Tenko, I forgot it before, let's give you a bath!" Naruto called out his devious plan. My eyes widened and I ran to Kakashi, who was already done and sitting on his futon. "Help me" I whimpered and after he nodded, his hand grabbed the fur on my neck and he threw me back at Naruto. Traitor!

I somehow managed to squirm out of the blonde's hold and yelled: "NO! I don't smell _that_ bad. You gave me a bath just a few days ago! I hate baths!"  
"That was over a week ago and you stink of seaweed." He jumped at me, but I sidestepped him.

"Alright team, your last mission for today: give Tenko a bath" Kakashi announced and gave me his bloody fake smile. Devil.

Immediately Sakura and Sasuke were next to Naruto and all three of them ran after me, jumped and tried to grab my fur. When Sasuke pulled out a Kunai, I grasped in shock and noticed that they closed the door and windows.

Panicking I dodged Sakura's hands, ran through Naruto's open legs and jumped at the wall. I had seen Kakashi walk up the tree and knew the basic concept of the exercise, so help me, god to walk up the damn wall.

I pushed chakra into my paws, feeling no resistance from it and ran upwards as fast as I could. When I reached the ceiling my grip loosened and I buried my claws in the wood, wrapping my tails around my body.

"Leave me alone, brats!" I cried and had to see how they all grinned before Sakura gathered chakra in her feet and walked up to me. She secured her grip on me and it took her some effort to get me off the wall, but she succeeded.

In the end they all gave me a bath together and I was sure, Kakashi would happily use my misery to strengthen his team's bonds.  
Somewhere deep inside of me a small voice told me to suck it up, because I could survive this if it helped Naruto.

I was sure I could hear the Kyuubi laugh in his cage, but at least I fulfilled my part of the pact. So he better stayed alive to keep me alive.

* * *

**Unwanted Writer**: I really wanted the two of them to meet and imagining Tenko in front of the huge cage with Kyuubi looking down at her made a really cool picture in my head. The idea of the two of them having to make a deal to survive Naruto's actions actually made me laugh, when it came to my mind. :D

Have a great day!


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello guys.**  
**I'm sorry it took me so long to finish the next chapter. University and exams came along and robbed me of my life for the past few weeks. -.-**

* * *

When the sun fell through the window and blinded me in my sleep, I grunted in displeasure. I was way too tired to accept my waking state and could feel my sore muscles from my run to Wave. `_Never again! This was more activity then it could ever be good for me. Next time I'll just jump through dimension or use a teleportation-jutsu_´ I humoured in my mind. Let's face it, I was not able to go into any other dimension like a normal summon was able to and I also would never be able to use great Jutsus even if teleportation to the degree of traveling was possible.

But since I was a _bit_ uneducated in the way of ninjas and theory, I didn't know better. Being here for not even one year, I found a good excuse for my ignorance in knowledge.  
`_Maybe if I need to use this stuff, I will learn about it.´ _This time I let out a huff of amusement. Knowing that this was more unlikely than Uchiha smiling and laughing openly, I was sure to not start inventing or learning stuff I would never be able to do.

Suddenly a knee in my stomach got me fully awake and I hissed in pain. Naruto was still sound asleep and didn't know about the rough wake-up call he gave me. My body, being sore as it was, didn't appreciate his manhandling and I hated to move to get away from his knee.  
Last night I didn't let him hug me like always, because I was petty at them for having too much fun giving me a bath.  
Now I got the payback in form of a knee in pyjamas.

Grumbling I pushed myself up and went over to Kakashi, who was the only one being awake this early.  
"Moring", I pressed out and let myself fall next to his legs, laying my head on his thigh.  
"Good morning, Tenko-chan. How are you?" I let out a humourless snort at his question.  
"You just saw Naruto and me. Your question is misplaced and I am tired and sore and hurt and-"  
"Of course", Kakashi interrupted me quickly and let his fingers stroke through my fur.  
"Today I want you to practise with us. And you still have to tell me how you got the control over _your_ chakra." His voice superficially sounded as bored as always, but thanks to my ears I could hear the subliminal tone he wasn't able to suppress. No human was. And this time he sounded interested but also knew the urgency to find out about the Kyuubi's chakra. Maybe je was worried about how exactly I gained control, but would he suspect me of doing bad, bad things for the fix demon? Nah, if he was, I weren't allowed to walk around and train with them.

So I nodded.  
"Yeah, I kind of forget about it yesterday. I'll tell you when Naruto is awake enough to hold a conversation."  
"You mean when it is only the three of us."  
"That too. It is a more… private matter, after all." Kakashi gave an understanding hum.  
"We'll talk about it at lunch, I can send Sasuke and Sakura to get our meals and not make them feel excluded."

Raising an eyebrow, I looked up at the sitting man.  
"You really put effort into their teamwork. Didn't expect it, actually. Well, you always seem bored and not interested into anything, but you still are." I cackled. "Of course, you have some interest in working with the team you got assigned to."  
"Sure." Kakashi ended our conversation and I could hear the runt stir under his blanket. I couldn't lie, I was impressed with Kakashi and his talent to read people while making it very difficult to be read. He must have noticed some indicator that the Uchiha was waking up or something cool like that!

"Yo, Sasuke-kun. You really wake up the same exact time as always." The Jonin greeted his student.

Or not.

...

Breakfast was uneventful when ignoring Naruto and the runt who started a fight about beating the other one at tree climbing/running and generally being better than the other one.  
I kept silent and just observed the Genin, since I really had no idea how they acted in a team and how to join in. Admitting that Kakashi was right, I wasn't going to tell him.

Naruto somehow managed to get under the Uchiha's skin with his provocation and thereby talk with the blonde boy.  
"Oi, Tenko! Tell the teme that he is wrong. It is obvious, that _I_ am the best ninja." '_Great, Naruto. Pull me into your stupid fight when I just want to see you guys interact without saying anything myself._'  
I let out a sigh and then searched for help from Kakashi.  
"Yeah, Tenko-chan. What do you say to that?" Bastard. If he was testing me and my attitude towards his team, I didn't like it. I just looked away and finished my piece of fish.

My little Uzumaki did not seem to understand my implication of excluding myself from the argument and poked into my side.  
"Tenkooo, we are talking to you. Tell the teme that I am the best!"  
I chewed harder on my fish and used the time to eat to overthink a possible reply.

'_Shit, was should I do? I can't take on one side and influence their teamwork. If I agree with Naruto and say he is better than the runt, I'll have him and pinky against me. And then they will be peeved at Naruto. But if I agree with Uchiha, Naruto will be sad and the runt's ego is nothing to feed even more! Sometimes it is bigger than the Hokage Tower and I don't want to give him any future opportunities to remind me of this fact._ _What do I do?! Can't I just say something without- Oh yeah, diplomatic talking!_'

I looked up and let my gaze wander over Team 7, fixing on Naruto afterwards, before I opened my mouth.  
"I think you will be a great Hokage when you are older, but I don't think you are the best ninja right now. There is always someone better than oneself and you are just starting and so are your teammates."  
I mentally patted my own shoulder for this great statement. Naruto took a second to actually think about it, as did the other children. Then my sun on two legs looked up at me again.

"But who of us is the best?" He pointed between the runt and himself and now they waited for my decision again. '_Great, Naruto…_'

"Oh, look at the time! We have to get ready and do some training, before lunch time. Let's go, guys!" I chirped and quickly left the house. '_2 Points for my conversation skills_' I thought ironically and went ahead to the nice clearing Kakashi made his team train at yesterday. When I finally arrived I let myself slump down at one of the trees with a groan.  
My muscles ached and I looked up at the sky, following the clouds with my eyes. They looked so near while being far away, white and fluffy when they were nothing but water.

"Could I still walk on them if I had not met Naruto? Could I get back up there?" I asked out loud, knowing that only the birds would hear me. This started a train of thoughts I had ignored for some time now.

I knew that I fell out of the clouds, as strange as it sounded. I also knew that every being had to start existing at some point and grow up, myself included. Even a summon started young and small so I should have memories from before my walk in the sky. Sadly, I never recognised anything in the past months and everything I saw was new to me. '_Did I lose my memories? How?_'  
**Tap.**  
I wrinkled my nose at my lack of knowledge. Generally, I didn't mind not knowing everything, but this was different. I did not know anything about myself, my own person. No birthday, no name, age, preferences, my life as a (hopefully functioning) summon, skills and abilities. I had no Idea why I had a second form as a human or how to transform myself, nor did I have chakra.  
**Tap, tap.**  
In this world the principle was simple: You have chakra, you live. You have no chakra anymore, you die. So how did I end up in the sky with no chakra or physical body?

Kyuubi was no help and so wasn't Hokage-sama. The only thing I could do was to make sure to not loose my chakra or let Naruto and the damn fox die.  
Avoiding any danger would be a reasonable choice, but thanks to Naruto's profession this was out of question and impossible. Making him stronger and resilient was the only thing that came to my mind.  
And I had to keep an eye on this Danzo-person. He was just waiting for me to do a mistake…  
**Tap, tap, tap.**  
Mentally groaning and pulling at my fur I remembered my stupid decision to leave the village, because a demon told me so. This put the old man in the guise of getting rid of me for committing treason against the Hokage.  
Curse the one-eyed geezer!  
**Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.**

The more I thought about my situation, the more frustrated I became and I started tapping my tails on the ground. '_Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit_! _This situation will just make me nuts!_'

"Tenko, what's wrong?" The loud voice of my blonde friend interrupted my inner turmoil and when I looked up, I saw that everyone from Team 7 was present and either ignoring me or looking at me in question. I pushed back my thoughts and slowly got up.

"It's nothing really. Just planning my revenge for the bath" I joked and Naruto cringed at my response. He knew I couldn't be angry at him for too long, but once in a while I reminded him that even a knee-high fox could have a temper. He scratched the back of his head and gave me a wry smile.

"You don't mean that, Tenko-chan. Right?"  
I had to stop a grin from forming and gave the blonde boy a serious look. That made him gap at me before he got a troubled expression on his face and cried out with flailing arms:  
"It was Kakashi-sensei's idea! He deserves your revenge!"  
This time I couldn't keep the amusement out of my face and I cracked a sly grin at him. "He'll get my wrath, too."

The runt and pinky gave me judging looks. I was pretty sure the Uchiha saw my proclamation as threatening as the bark of a stumbling puppy, but his loyal fangirl looked between her sensei and me before taking a small step back.

"Ne, ne, Kakashi-sensei. She bites… You don't allow her to hurt us, do you?" The man directed his bored eye at her.  
"Hm? Why do you think Tenko-chan would hurt us?"

Sakura deadpanned, let out a frustrated sound and stomped away to the trees.  
"Why do I have to be on this team?" she whined and messed up her hair when she buried her fingers in her pink mane.

Kakashi finally took over the role of the teacher and instructed us to practise this tree walking exercise they had started doing yesterday. The fangirl clearly had the best skills out of the four of us and quickly joined our sensei on a high branch to have a conversation.  
Naruto and the runt continued with their competition. Next to running up their trees repeatedly, they also send glares to the other and snarl at the other one's achievements.

I took a moment to watch them in hope of catching on to any trick to do this, but I found none.  
Carefully, I gathered chakra in my paws and ignored my aching limps when I lifted my upper body and started to walk up the tree. It took all my concentration to stick my paws to the rough surface and after five or six steps my chakra flared and gravity brought me down to the ground. I let out a grunt and hissed when my butt stopped my fall.

'_Damn, this is more difficult than I thought_.'  
I pushed myself up again and glowered at the tree bark. I must have used too less chakra and lost my grip. This time I tried to keep my chakra flow steady, taking slow and careful steps, but after a handful I broke the bark under my paws and fell down, landing on my behind, again.  
After dozens of times of failed attempts my but hurt like I got a good spanking and my frustration disturbed my focus.  
Swearing like a sailor didn't help either. I already tried.

"Kakashi, I don't get it, help me!" I whined and looked up into the tree tops. Said man and his female student were observing the boys the whole time and had started betting on the number of steps I could make every single time.

"Mah, Tenko-chan. You have to try and figure it out yourself. As your sensei, I can't tell you everything beforehand." My answer was an annoyed expression and I got to the realization that Kakashi was still the good for nothing teacher he wanted us to believe he was.

"I know you care for us as your team, so be a good sensei and help me out." My new strategy was a simple argument and the wish to just convince him into action.

"Now, do the boys get help from me? No, they don't, but they still improve with every attempt."

"You shouldn't adorn yourself with borrowed plumes, _sensei_. Girly helped them and gave them tips. And their rivalry thing fuels them. You had nothing to do with it. But I need help and I don't have an eternal rival to push me forward." Maybe not the best arguments, but they were arguments.

"Then pick Sakura-chan as a rival if you must." Huh, Kakashi was not convinced.

"She is a fangirl."  
"She is a fox."  
Pinky and I complained and then gave each other a surprised look. '_Yeah, not happening_.'

Suddenly Kakashi stood up and came down on his crutches.  
"Alright, Team, assemble!" Curiously the children and I met around the Jonin and waited for him to explain his action.  
"Tenko-chan pointed your will to compete out to me and I got a great idea to make you work together. Sasuke-kun, you will be on a team with Naruto-kun-" Both boys immediately started to complain and took a step away from each other.  
"As I said, you two are on a team and Sakura-chan and Tenko-chan are on a team." The girl and I gave one another a sharp look, but we were smart enough to keep quiet for the moment.

"You are going to tie one of your legs together like for a three-legged race and then have to work together to avoid every attack."  
The runt let out a humourless sound.

"You expect a pair of girls to be able to attack me? They won't be able to, even with the dope at my leg."

"Oi, teme. You are the one hindering me on showing my full potential. And don't look down on Tenko and Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled at his 'partner'.

"Hn. My thumb has more talent then both of them together."

"And the Uchiha removed every trace of humidity from their genes."  
My comment brought me a glare which promised the wrath of the last Uchiha and a painful death, but it was worth it.  
Sadly Kakashi gave us a short lecture about teamwork and we all were not too impressed.

"Back to our training. I don't expect the girls to attack you, because I am the one who will throw the weapons at you four."  
Never before did all the colour drain from our faces at the same time and we looked at our sensei with big eyes.

"Excuse me?" Sakura squeaked. Kakashi gave his typical eye-smile and the man literally radiated schadenfreude.

"I expect you to work together and avoid shuriken, kunai, senbon and low-level ninjutsu. We will train until lunch so we have a little over an hour. Get ready." He sounded way too happy.

The next minute verged on a wonder, because team 'orange depression' and team 'pink fox' as I dubbed us worked in complete silence and tied our legs together. Pinky and I had a few problems since my leg was way shorter than hers and one long step or jump from her could seriously hurt me if there was any real speed and force behind it.  
Kakashi was our solution by somehow making a short leash appear and knotting it around my belly. There was about 30 cm of leash before it was tied around Sakura's calf.

Not having any time to test out our range of movements Kakashi laid a handful of storage seals in front of him and made a small mountain of weapons appear. Pinky took a step back and I tried to hide behind her legs.  
"Run" I whispered and took off into the trees. Forgetting that we were tied together, a small branch, that we both circled from opposite sides, abruptly stopped us. Sakura fell flat on the large branch we were running on and I was pulled backwards and off the tree, dangling freely over the ground. The air was pushed out of my lungs and I puked my breakfast out. The pink-haired girl got up to her knees and when she saw my breakfast leaving me, she pulled a grimace, but pulled me back on the tree.

When I was just dry heaving, she slowly picked me up and gave me an apologizing look.  
"Just get some distance between us and the crazy man." I groaned and Sakura pulled the leash on her leg higher to carry me.

We flew through the air and topped back on the ground behind a big tree trunk.

"Are you better now?" Sakura asked and I could hear concern in her voice. '_Oh, wow. That was unexpected._' I just nodded quickly and we looked from behind our hid-out just to see (and hear) team 'orange depression' jump around the trees and shrubbery to avoid the sharp weapons targeting them. Loud curses and accusations echoed over the clearing they passed.

"This is your fault, dope!"  
"What?! You wanted to 'stick around' and outsmart him, dattebayo!"  
"He is walking on crutches. How fast did you think he could move around?"  
"Obviously not _this_ fast. But it is still your fault and- duck!" The runt lowered his upper body at Naruto's shout and a kunai flew past his ear. Our sensei took his role as our attacker way too serious.

"He wouldn't be this close if we had run away like Tenko and Sakura-chan did."  
"Hn."  
"TEME! Don't 'hn' at me when you make the mistake!"  
"I didn't make a mistake, my calculation was just off."  
"Sure, and I am Iruka-sensei's sister- is that vomit?" Naruto took a quick glance at my previous breakfast and made a disgusted sound while dodging a handful of senbon.

"Don't get distracted, dead last. We have to-" The Uchiha pulled Naruto at the boys collar into his side and a kunai with an explosion tag buried itself into the ground where Naruto just had been. With widening eyes Naruto tackled the other boy into the bushes when the bomb went off.

I had to grin - they were bickering and shoving at each other and made their movements look like those of mad toddlers, but they managed to get away from the danger.

"Oi, girly. We have to move. They led Kakashi right to us." The girl nodded and we ran into the opposite direction of the boys.  
This time we took notice of our surroundings and dodged low hanging twigs and bushes and I always stayed near her leg. This way we managed to get away from the battle noises and hid behind a big bush.

"Alright, we have to come up with a strategy if we want to survive Kakashi-sensei's attacks. We are not as skilled and strong as Sasuke-kun is or as resilient as Naruto-kun proves to be."  
I shot a serious glare at her.  
"Hey! Naruto is skilled and strong, too! Just in other ways, but he is putting in more effort than any of you. And you just worry about your looks. You have no right to say something about him!" I snapped and got angry with the girl's ignorance.

She crossed her arms in front of her chest and huffed.  
"Well, you aren't any better than me and you always look down on Sasuke-kun. That makes you a hypocrite!"  
"I don't look down on him just because other people avoid him. I judge him on his actions and the Uchiha boy clearing thinks too highly of himself, is narcissistic and egocentric. He doesn't see any need of his team and until now I found no real trait about his personality I should like."

"Take that back! You weren't with us for over a month so you don't know anything about him or how we are as a team! Even Kakashi-sensei says so." Sakura put her hands on her hips and I gave a low growl.  
'_Fuck, she was right. I really didn't know much about the Team 7 of the present, but she couldn't say that he never behaved like a team player before_.'

The rustling of the nearby bushes pulled us out of our argument and a second later a blue and orange blur ran us over and landed on us.  
Groaning I opened my eyes after a heavy body had crushed me to the ground. Great, the runt had sailed onto me. Sakura was swearing at Naruto who tried to pick himself up as quickly as possible, rambling a flood of apologies. In the meantime, Uchiha pushed himself off me and I was able to breath again. He 'hn'-ed at me without an ounce of guilt. Arsehole!

"Ah, Tenko, you guys are okay? We have to hurry, Kakashi-sensei is following us. Let's go!"  
He picked me up around the belly, grabbed Sakura's hand and started running. The runt didn't seem too keen on waiting for our sensei and hurried to keep up with Naruto.

We made a bee-line around some places where the blonde boy told us that Kakashi had placed tripwire and other booby traps. Naruto and the runt were both breathing more heavily than a few minutes ago, Sasuke was sweating, too. Thanks to the crazy stamina my roommate had, he was still fit and strong enough to carry and pull us with him.

Suddenly the boys came to a halt and Sasuke pulled a small bundle from under some tree roots. He gave Naruto and Sakura ear pieces and Naruto took a ribbon and knotted a different type of ear piece around my head.

"The teme was able to sneak our headsets with him when Kakashi-sensei got your leash. We figured that we could maybe work together and have higher chances of survival until lunch." His grin was bright and optimistic as always, giving me some strength.  
Naruto corrected the hold of my headset and turned it on.

"How is your body doing, Tenko? I know you aren't the active type and still sore. Need any help?"  
'_Oh, you little sweetheart_!' I thought and was touched by his thoughtfulness.

"I'm fine, just tired and still a bit sick to my stomach." I admitted and Sakura scratched her arm at the last part of my comment. Our earlier argument forgotten I wasn't angry with her. We both hadn't taken enough care where we were going to.  
"But I'll survive it." I gave them a small smile.

"Alright. Do you guys have any idea how to deal with our executioner or wanna hear what we came up with?" Sakura and I wanted him to elaborate. Sasuke took over the explaining.

"We got the idea to pick up as many of Kakashi's weapons as possible and hang them all into the trees with wire. I have a wire mesh in my bag back at the clearing. We can tie it to the weapons and trap him under it. The kunai will hold him down and the wire hinders him on simply cutting himself loose."

Sakura had stars in her eyes and gave me a show lecture of admiration for her 'great Sasuke-kun'. The boys and I quickly made her shut up and then decided on their plan to be good enough for now. Sasuke and Naruto would get the weapons, simply because they had more arms to actually carry weapons (hinting at my paws being useless) and Sakura and I would get the wire mesh.

"Perfect, now we just need cool code names!" Naruto said with his excited voice.  
"Oh, I already gave some to our teams. We are 'pink fox' and you guys are 'orange depression'." I put my two cents worth in.

This earned me the more or less amused expressions of the Genin and Naruto let out a snort, desperately trying to suppress a laughter.  
"She's right. You _are_ depression." Sasuke hit Naruto at the back of the blonde's head and wanted to be called something else.  
Sadly for him, at this moment I caught Kakashi's scent. With perked ears I listened for the man and guessed that he was dangerously near.

"He's here, let's get going!" I whispered and was secretly impressed when the three kids got serious and we spread out to do our tasks.

The girl and I sneaked around the trees and when we couldn't hear or see our sensei, we jumped into the tree tops to cover more ground in less time. Half way there our headsets turned on and we could hear Naruto's voice.

"Orange depression to pink fox. Orange depression to pink fox. Over." I couldn't stop a snort and Sakura grinned at bit.

"Pink fox here, over." She answered and her grin was open for me to see.

"We got most of the kunai we need. Depression thinks we don't have enough, but I think he is just pessimistic. You there yet? Over." This time Sakura let out a giggle at Naruto's statement.

"We are near and the scarecrow is some way between us, judging by his scent. I can't hear him from here, but it's possible that you guys meet on your way. Over."

"I'm not pessimistic, just realistic. Scarecrow is a Jonin after all." The runt justified his earlier statement.

"He is, but at the same time does he rely on crutches. And you forgot to say over, teme. Over."  
Sakura grinned at me this time. Guess, we are good now.

A single 'Hn' made its way to our ears and the pink-haired girl snorted before adding "Over".  
'_Right now I like her type of humour! They can be a good team… Kakashi would say something like 'told you so'._'

We reached the bags and Sakura quickly rummaged through it, while I watched out for any trace of silver-white hair. When the girl found our item, I sniffed the air.

"The coast is clear, let's go." She nodded and activated her headset.

"Pink fox to orange depression, we've got it and are on our way now. Over."  
All the running and jumping was fun and great, but my body slowly reached its limits. My muscles started to burn and hurt again, now that my earlier adrenaline and the first euphory decreased. Sakura was breathing more heavily now, too, but she didn't say anything. Maybe she still had enough stamina or she just had fun and wanted to see how our plan worked out in the end.

"We are in position, too. Just come- The scarecrow is here! I repeat, the scarecrow is here! We'll distract him and lead him away. Over." Sasuke hissed and then we could hear some shouting and the Uchiha using his fire breath-jutsu before taking off with a cursing Naruto in tow.

"I guess pink fox needs to save the day." Sakura said to me and I gave her an amused smile.  
Arriving at our trap in the trees we (Sakura) made quick work to tie everything together. I was on watch while Sakura showed off her superiority by having thumbs to tie knots.

Okay, she didn't really show off, but I was a bit pissed that I was useless. Training or not, not having thumbs or being able to use chakra for jutsus was not great.

"We are done. Orange depression, get back here! Over." Sakura ordered and when we got a single 'Hn' followed by an amused 'Over' from Naruto, we waited for them to lead the scarecrow into our trap.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and have a great week. :)**


	11. Chapter 11

Hello guys, I finally got the time to write a new chapter. :)

And there I thought the exam periode was over. He, he... It was not.  
I hope you enjoy the new chapter. :)

* * *

Sakura and I sat in the tree tops, waiting for our victim to be led to his doom or in our case, wire mesh and kunai. Naruto and the runt were on their way back to us and pinky and I decided for me to use my senses and find Kakashi before he could find us. Perking my ears and trying to sniff them out, I stretched my neck to locate any of the team's males.  
Around four to five minutes passed until a gust of wind finally carried their scents to me. All three of them were on a direct way towards our trap, their scents told be that two of them were sweating and kind of stressed out. The third was exhausted, too and had something in his scent that made me feel lucky to be the one sitting in the tree and not getting chased by our sensei.  
This white-haired bastard had way too much fun playing the villain for our 'bonding time'.

"They will be here in no time now. Maybe 30 seconds.", I whispered to my female partner in crime. Kakashi wasn't able to hear us, but I was not reckless enough to test his skills.  
My ears suddenly picked up noise and voices, even Sakura was able to hear them without trying. How were they this silent before?

"TEME! You did that on purpose!"  
"Hn, of course I did. He threw a _fire ball_ at us. You were too slow."  
Both boys came near the clearing and their clothes were even more sliced up, ripped open and dirty than they were a few minutes ago. And… were there burn holes in Naruto's jacket?

"You didn't have to push my face into the ground!"  
"You were too slo- Left!" They immediately ducked to said direction and a mix of senbon, kunai and shuriken flew past them.  
"Oi, Kakashi-sensei. You are going to kill us, dattebayo!" Naruto yelled back and was completely stressed out. Just in that moment the Jonin threw another shuriken at the boys and when it missed them by the length of an arm, I suspected the man to be tired.  
Wrong. Our sensei pulled his crutch to the side and we all could momentarily see the reflection of the sun on the wire tied to the shuriken. It circled the Genin and wrapped itself around them. Naruto and the runt were still leaning on their left feet from their latest dodging manoeuvre and didn't have the time to get out of the way.

With a thud they found themselves on the ground, just a few meters away from our trap.  
"Shit", Sakura let out a nearly silent hiss and I had to agree with her.  
The runt had his armed pinned to his sides and Naruto had one arm stuck at Uchiha's back. Fortunately, he was able to pull up one arm and used it to throw a kunai at Kakashi, who had to duck to the side. It did miss its target, but the blonde boy used the time our sensei needed to balance himself on the crutches to push himself _and_ the runt up.  
In a silent agreement they ran past the mark for our trap to capture the Jonin, just to 'accidentally' stumble on a stone. The Uchiha even had the decency to let out a fake yelp of surprise which sounded genuine.

Kakashi closed in on the boys and they used the time to have another fake argument and Sasuke wiggled more than necessary to 'hinder' Naruto at untying them.  
"My, my. You can be difficult to catch when you actually work together." The man's amused voice interrupted the struggling Genin and just when Kakashi reached out to grab them, Sakura pulled a string and released our trap.

Naruto and Sasuke rolled away from the Copy-Ninja and made him stop in his movement. When he looked up it was too late and the kunai buried themselves into the ground.

Quickly Sakura and I jumped down and pushed them even deeper down. Kakashi sat on his behind, clearly taken by surprise and watched us while the boys freed themselves of the wire and the rope that held them together.  
Sakura untied the leash from around my belly and her leg too and the kids high-fived and cheered.

"The scarecrow is trapped!" Naruto cheered loudly.  
"Pink fox and orange depression for the win!" Sakura clapped her hands and jumped up and down.  
"Hn!" Uchiha let out his universal statement but showed a smirk.  
Naruto suddenly grabbed me around my middle and swung me up, down and around him in a circle. Hadn't I puked out my breakfast before, it would be in him for sure.  
"Naruto-kun, you make her sick!" Sakura came to the rescue and cradled me in her arms. I felt too sick and dizzy to say anything and just let the girl have her way with me for now.

A low chuckle interrupted our small celebration and four pairs of eyes were directed on the trapped sensei.  
"Great teamwork, _pink fox_ and _orange depression_. You did well." Kakashi gave us his signature smile and when he pointed out that it was time for lunch, we helped him up and pulled the wire mesh off of him.  
"Sakura-chan, Sasuke-kun, please go and get our lunch from Tazuna-san's house. It should be prepared by now." Kakashi send them away and I knew that it was time for me to explain some things.

As soon as the children were out of hearing range, Kakashi sat down at a tree and Naruto was still grinning widely, not knowing about the following conversation.  
"Ne, ne, Sensei. You should have seen the look on your face! Or your eye, there isn't much more to see actually. But we all worked together and as a team we are invincible. Believe it!" Seeing the boy this excited made my heart soften like nothing else and I snuggled into his side when he finally sat down.

"Naruto-kun, we have to talk." Kakashi told the boy.  
"Huh, did we do something wrong? You never said we couldn't team up." The Jonin raised his hands and tried to calm his student down.  
"You did great, don't worry. This has something to do with Tenko-chan… and her chakra control."  
The blonde stopped stroking my fur and looked down at me in question. I nodded and Naruto looked between the two of us while he tried to figure out where the problem laid. Kakashi elaborated.

"Tenko-chan wasn't able to control the Kyuubi's chakra when we started our mission and her sensei informed me that she was barely able to do the leaf exercise without having the chakra overwhelm her. I am sure she told you about her non-existent development when she came home in the evening. Strangely, now she can control it without trouble and nothing happens. Literarily speaking, because I use the term of control loosely, since she is still bad at it."  
Naruto was given a couple of seconds to process the new information before Kakashi continued. I decided to ignore the less than indirect critique.

"This means something must have happened between her and the Kyuubi, since he denied her the usage of chakra for the last few months. Tenko-chan mentioned something when you were not present, so I wanted to talk about it."

"What did you tell him, Tenko?" Naruto's voice sounded strange to me. It was seriousness, a trait not often related to the young Uzumaki. He really seemed to get the importance of the situation, which surprised me a bit. But there was something else in his voice. It appeared every time the Kyuubi was mentioned and… was he peeved that I hadn't told him first? Maybe.

I sighed and sat straighter, before I quickly summarized my meeting and deal with the fox.

"Did you really _just_ agree to protect Naruto and now are allowed to use his chakra?" Kakashi tried to dig deeper.  
"Yes, he had a disadvantage in his position to not have many conditions. Of course, I like to be alive, too, but the fox can only do so much inside of Naruto. If there will ever be a lethal attack, he might be too late to do damage control and heal after it hit Naruto's body. He wants me to protect our lovable source of life to the degree where he can't." I playfully poked the boy in his side to lighten the mood, but ocean-blue eyes looked at me in anger.

"So what? You just agree to be cannon fodder and die!? You make a deal with a _demon_ and didn't think twice! Or ask me?" His voice carried the same anger his body radiated. I snorted humourlessly.

"Like you are the one who always thinks before he acts. Also, I didn't really have a choice, you know? I want you to live, without any question, but if anything happens to you, it can also affect me. And the damn fox as well. The fox is dependent on your wellbeing, while I depend on yours to ensure the fox's health to ensure mine. I hate this damn loop. And I like being alive, thank you very much."  
Naruto let out a frustrated and angry sound at my rumbling and pulled his hair. Kakashi took hold of the blonde's smaller hands and pulled them down.

"Calm down, Naruto. We can't change what already happened, but we can shape the future and choose what we do next." Sometimes this man could sound as wise as the Hokage himself and his words did affect the boy. "But I agree with you. Tenko, you should know better that to just make a deal with the fox demon and not tell us right away." Naruto nodded and bit his lower lip, stopping himself from saying whatever he wanted to a moment ago. I looked away, knowing that my decisions did hurt my friend. His fists were pressed against his thighs and trembled out of pure emotions.  
Carefully, I sneaked myself into Naruto's lap and looked up at the kid. The anger in his eyes was gone and made room for many other emotions. Big tears rolled down his cheeks and he pulled me into a crushing embrace. Ouch. He really had a soul too kind for his own good.

"You were supposed to be the smart one from the two of us. Stupid fox!" He silently sobbed into my fur and I cringed a bit at the thought that his snot was mixing with his tears. I wasn't heartless enough to push the boy away, I could never do it.

"I can't l-let you do this, Tenko. I don't allow you to die for my actions! I-" His sobs interrupted him. "You are my friend and I will protect you." He pulled his face out off my fur and looked at me again with red and wet eyes. I forced myself to smile at him.

"I don't want to die, you know? Thanks to you I am just starting to live, but you are my little Uzumaki, so I have to keep an eye on you. But you better start to take care of yourself or I beat your ass." I tried to keep my smile steady, but judging the boy's reaction I did a shitty job.

Naruto started to cry again but thankfully refrained from rubbing his snot into in my fur.  
Kakashi was clearly uncomfortable with the situation and he scratched his neck, before he hesitantly rubbed the blonde's back in small circles.  
This did surprise the Jonin as much as it did Naruto and me and we all looked at each other for a moment, before I started laughing at this strange situation, we were in. This socially awkward elite ninja of Konoha tried to comfort the demon's vessel and looked like he needed to be comforted after trying his social skills with a kid. Naruto gave us a wry smile and Kakashi pulled out his _Icha Icha_ 'novel' to give the boy some time to gather himself and get himself out of the awkward situation.

"Hokage-sama won't be impressed though." Kakashi's comment interrupted the lightened atmosphere, but Naruto gave me a huge grin.  
"Jiji will understand it, when we get back! He always says that our shinobi look after each other and we all have Konoha's will of fire. You just want to protect your teammate." Out of Naruto's mouth it sounded so simple and right what I did, but deep inside of me I knew it wasn't.  
Just for now I wanted to believe it and I gave both shinobi a smile.

Kakashi lowered his book and to me his expression stated that he didn't really believe in an easy solution either. Still he decided to not voice his opinion for Naruto's sake. Sometimes I was surprised how considering and accepting the man had proved himself to be. Not only did he seem okay with Naruto around him (and actually understanding that he was _not_ the Kyuubi), but he had also decided to help me with my problems since he knew of my existence.  
He and Pakkun brought me to the Hokage for help, he hadn't just tried to kill me when I became visible and transformed (I had seen the man tense and draw his weapons, though), his ninken came and visit me when I was not Kakashi's responsibility. The Copy-Nin had bought me my chewing-friendly teddy, he accepted me as part of his Genin team and even another student and he wanted me to see and be part of today's Team 7.

Suddenly the man pulled me out of my memories when he said: "I will go talk to Hokage-sama with you. Just so you know that you are not alone. This doesn't mean you won't get punished or that I just let you off the hook, but you left the village for Naruto. Maa, you guys will cause my hair to get gray before I turn 35."  
"Of course, I come with you, too! Believe it!" Naruto declared loudly, not having listened to the rest of Kakashi's opinion and I was sure my heart grew two times its size by their words.

I was not alone. I didn't have to explain my actions without any support and maybe I could be safe from the bastard Danzo. It was an unrealistic hope, that I knew, but hope none the less and it was better than fear. I was fine with pushing my worries back until we would reach Konoha.

.

When the runt and his fangirl came back, I was able to hear her talk and shower the Uchiha with compliments and praises. Mentally groaning, I rolled my eyes.  
The runt reached the clearing with an annoyed expression on his face that told me '_Of course I am better than you all. You (Sakura) are just stating the obvious._' And Sakura just stopped rambling when she noticed Naruto's slightly red eyes.  
She knitted her brow's, but since nobody said anything, she let it slide. Yep, our team still had a long way to go, but they were kinder that a month ago. Also, I didn't know why, but it felt as if we actually took a small step into the right direction as a team.

Lunch was pleasant and we even had a nice conversation. Sakura didn't focus completely on the runt (thanks to Kakashi, actually). The Uchiha took part with a few well timed _hn_'s and Naruto recovered from our previous topic. Kakashi stopped them from time to time before Naruto and Uchiha started to argue over stupid stuff and pinky only punched Naruto twice.  
Still not liking this, I allowed it, because she'd hit only half-heartedly and after remembering my short argument with her about not knowing the team and their dynamics. She was lucky that Naruto was a knucklehead, his skull was sturdy like a rock and he had his stupid crush on her.

…

The whole afternoon we went back to tree walking. I wouldn't have minded it too much after our nice and long break, hadn't the pink-haired girl taken over the task to correct me and give me a lecture about chakra theory every time I fell back to the ground. Let me tell you, I fell down too often to give the girl a chance to breath between her suggestions and quotations from school.  
The value of patience was something I could not afford after two whole hours and I finally snapped.

"Shut up! _Shut up, shut up, shut up_! I can't hear it anymore! 'Chakra control this', 'chakra control that', 'take _Sasuke-kun _for an example'." Aping her repeated phrases. "Do you have something else in your head than memorized theories and your great Uchiha boy? Just leave me alone already!"

The girl huffed and puffed at my shouting and her head got red in anger.  
"I wouldn't have the need to tell you all those things, were you any better at it! You are just repeating your mistakes and even Naruto got it by now! And when we had to run from Sensei, you were just useless!" She was right. The girl was god-damn right, but I didn't want to hear it right now.

"Well, I just started controlling chakra and three days ago I couldn't do the stupid leaf exercise. So give me a break!" I barked back at her and our argument attracted our male teammates.

"Sakura-chan don't be too strict with Tenko. She just started learning about-"  
"Shut it, Naruto." Sakura silenced the boy, then turned back to me. "What kind of summon are you if you can't even use chakra? You should have earned the title 'dead-last'. Not Naruto."  
Ouch, now that did hurt and the truth behind her words made it even worse. Finally, Kakashi saw the need to stop our squabble.

"Alright, this is enough, you two. Maybe we all should have a talk…"  
This made all of us look up to our sensei. _HE_ wanted us to have a 'talk'? He did, forcing us to sit down in a small circle and positioning himself between Sakura and me. '_Isn't one talk per day enough_?'

"I think you should know one or two things, seeing that it affects your teamwork." He quickly looked at all our faces once before he continued.  
"Now, this little fox here is a summon, so much is clear. I also told you about her inability to go back into the summons dimension and that she needed Naruto's chakra for regeneration. Remember?" He waited for everyone to nod. "What we haven't told you is that Tenko-chan _came_ to us in need of help. She had trouble with her chakra and Naruto was the only one compatible with her own. Since she needed foreign chakra for stabilization, her body had some trouble to adapt. That's why she isn't good at controlling chakra and learning to use it with us."  
So many half-truths in one little story made me question everything I ever heard out of that man's mouth. I had trouble figuring out why he actually told the kids part of those information. They weren't classified _per se_, but I had thought of them as sensible data. Kakashi really had to wish for our teamwork if he was sharing fact about my circumstances.

Pinky and the runt were taken aback at those news and Sakura bit her lower lip, looking to the ground, thinking hard.  
"I am sorry, I didn't know." She said with a sheepish voice. I just mumbled something in the context of 'it's alright', but nobody should expect me to hug her and be friends. Her words were mean!  
'_Maybe that's my pride speaking. I know she didn't mean ill with her suggestion, but god damn it I don't want to!_'  
I decided to be petty for the night and then make up with her after breakfast.

…

_The next morning_

Sakura stretched her arms and legs, shaking off the stiffness from the night and yawned shamelessly. However she behaved right now, Naruto would always be worse. A quick glare around the room the girl noticed that her team was still sleeping soundly. Naruto was spread over his futon and the ground again and Kakashi never shifted in his sleep. Getting up as silently as she could, Sakura tiptoed to the door, passing Sasuke.  
He was looking like a young god, sleeping with relaxed features, his hair framed his beautiful face and everything about him just looked perfect.

'_Take that, Ino-pig. Shannaro_!' Sakura celebrated inside her head but finally left the room. She wanted to get ready for the day and help Inari's mother prepare breakfast. After all, they stayed there to their hosts expense. Not that Sakura would want to pay them.  
And Sasuke-kun could see what a great wife she would be, when he saw her serve him breakfast.

Her daydreaming was disrupted by the small brat, when he left his room. Still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Inari looked around, searching for something. Sakura raised an eyebrow and wanted to go to the bathroom to change her outfit, when she heard the sleepy voice of the child.

"Have you seen Tenko-chan? She wasn't here when I woke up."  
Last night Tenko let the boy convince her to sleep in his room after he was sad the whole evening. He had liked the fox since he pulled her out of the water and brought her home with him, planning to keep her.  
Sakura didn't know why exactly the boy had been sad last night, but she discovered that the fox was weak to tears. Or just small children.

"No, I didn't. Wasn't she sleeping in your room? Then you should know." The boy shook his head.

"I think she took a walk when I was sleeping. I heard her get out my window, but she's still gone."

Sakura had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Great, now the fox was missing, too. This was the first and last time Naruto was allowed to decide on a mission!

"She'll come back." Sakura offered some reassurance and went into the bath to get ready for the day. Why would Tenko leave the house in the middle of the night and not come back? She knew very well, that Naruto would throw a fit when he got worried. Groaning, Sakura decided to go and look for the summon and prevent more chaos from happening.  
Kakashi-sensei had told them to work on their teamwork and try to include the fox after all. Maybe her sensei will praise her for searching the fifth part of their team.

Being in a better mood Sakura left the house and took a walk towards the village. Most people were still asleep, just a few fishermen prepared their boats and fixed the fishing nets at the small harbour. One of the old men recognised Sakura and waved her to him.

"Good morning, young lady. Are you in need for something?" Sakura smiled at the polite man.

"Good morning. I am searching for a friend (chough) of mine. The fox that followed us around for the last few days. She hasn't come home this morning. Have you seen her?"  
The old man scratched his grey beard and let out a stretched 'hmm'. Then he shrugged his shoulders.

"I am sorry, miss… Oi, Sho. SHO!" another old man appeared in a boat a few meters down the shore.

"What?" he yelled back.

"Have you seen the small fox that's always with the ninjas?"

"Whaaat?" Sho yelled again. Maybe his ears weren't the best.

"HAVE YOU SEEN THE FOX?" the man next to Sakura suddenly demonstrated his voice's full volume.

"I don't have your toolbox, silly old man." Sho just yelled back again. The old man and Sakura both gave themselves a face-palm.

"I am sorry, young lady, but neither of us is of any help. I wish you good luck and a nice day, though." Sakura gave a light bow and left for the other end of the harbour.

After walking down the shore for a few minutes and enjoying the view of the sun kissing the sea, Sakura ended up at the small landing stage belonging to Tazuna's property. To her displeasure, the girl didn't see the red fur of the summon.

"Where is she?" Sakura sighed and just before turning around, a wave rocked the boat and Sakura could see something red inside of it. 'Finally.' she thought and quickly ran the short distance.

"Oi, Tenko-chan. Why did you leave the hou-" Stopping mid-sentence, the Genin saw that, what she thought to be the red fur of their teammate, was in face not, but short hair belonging to a young woman. She was curled up in the old boat and Sakura noticed the strange clothes she was wearing. It looked like a red, short dress or kimono of some sort. Obviously not the best choice for a night at the beach.  
Her hair was short and wild, masking her face and she let out regular breaths. She was sleeping.  
Maybe she had seen the fox walking away from the house?

Unsure what to do, the pink haired girl carefully touched the woman's shoulder and shook her lightly.

"Excuse me, ma'am. Are you alright?" Sakura asked politely. Maybe the woman was homeless.

Grumbling, the body stirred and a hand made a shooing motion for Sakura to get her hand off. '_Not a morning person._'

"Ah, sorry… Uh, excuse me? I am terribly sorry, but have you seen a fox?" Sakura blushed a bit. Disturbing someone when they were sleeping and keeping them awake was rude, but maybe she could help Sakura.

"What are you talkin' 'bout? You blind?" The woman grunted tiredly and startled the Genin.  
What the… rude! Sakura puffed her cheeks to keep her temper at check, but it was in vain.

"Excuse _you_?! You don't have to be rude just because I _asked_ a question." Who did this bitch think she was?! The daimon's wife?

"And I asked if you were blind, fangirl. I am h-e-r-e!" the red head snarled annoyed and sat herself up, turning around.  
Sakura's eyes grew big, seeing the face of a young woman with brown eyes and canine teeth. '_What?_' was the only thought Sakura could produce. When the woman stood up in the boat, she looked Sakura dead in the eyes, but instead of snapping at the Genin like Sakura thought she would, the woman's eyes lost their annoyance and anger. Surprise washed over her features and she leaned over the boat to look into the water, to see her reflection.  
Sakura witnessed how the red-haired woman stared at herself for quite some time before she touched her face with her hand, her gaze never leaving the wafer's surface.

"Shit…" she got back up and climbed out of the boat, grabbing Sakura's wrist and dragging her towards Tazuna's house.  
"Sakura, we have to get to Kakashi, he needs to help me. Fuck, don't I have enough trouble already?"

Finally Sakura's mind caught up and she started pulling back, trying to get her wrist out of the tight grip.  
"Let go, you are hurting me!" she cried and lashed out. The woman ducked under her arm and quickly let go of the girl.

"Sorry, I hadn't notice. Didn't want to hurt you." she mumbled and now started pushing the girl from behind.

"Leave me alone! Who are you anyway? And how do you know Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura had a theory, who this was, but she wasn't sure. There had to be limits, even for a summon.

"Kami fucking damn it, fangirl. It's me, Tenko! Are you really _that_ slow up in your head? I guessed you'd have a big brain behind that huge forehead." The woman rudely knocked against Sakura's forehead.

Before Sakura could snap back at her, they reached the house and 'Tenko' pushed them into the kitchen where everybody was eating breakfast.

'_Great, so much to showing off to Sasuke-kun_' Sakura thought and pouted.

"Sakura-chaaan! You are back and y-" Naruto chocked on his rice, talking with a full mouth, as he saw Tenko, now in a human form.

"Naruto, swallow before you talk. I swear I'll write 'died to a grain of rice' on your tombstone." the summon barked annoyed. She was taking the news of her transformation as good as Sakura and Naruto did, not too well.

"Maa, seems like it happened again, right, Tenko-chan?", was Kakashi's only reply, but Sakura could hear the stressed tone in his voice and she asked herself, if this was a problem she didn't know about.  
Everybody else was silent.

* * *

Have a great day!


	12. Chapter 12

Well, after a longer break than expected: here is chapter 12. Enjoy! :)

* * *

Sasuke-kun glared at the young woman next to Sakura with a suspicious look, let out a distinctive 'hn' and continued eating. The way he held his chopsticks and his eyebrows twitched, Sakura could see that he was trying to figure out an explanation for the new situation they all were thrown into.  
He also kept his emotions in check even after seeing Tenko in a human form. He was cool!

At school Sasuke-kun always looked serious and handsome and cool to everyone (except Naruto, that dunce), but Sakura knew the Uchiha better. She definitely knew him better than that Ino-pig!  
It was just logical for the pink-haired girl to pick up the small movements in his face and understand him. They would be just perfect together!

Inari's mother looked at the small bowl with rice she'd prepared for the fox and wordlessly went to get more fitted dishes, too stunned and purely confused to even question what she was seeing.

Sakura noticed that the small brat wasn't present. Did he already finish his meal? Or was he out searching Tenko? Well, good luck with that.

Sakura guessed that the boy would come back home in time for dinner like he did the last few days.

"This is the fox?" Tazuna asked sceptically and raised an eyebrow, while he stared at the young woman. "Konoha really gave me the strangest ninja team they could find."

"Not like you deserved a better one… wait, I just insulted us." Tenko sneered back, but then hit herself against her head.  
Sakura looked back at the fox-woman, who then started mumbling incoherent words and scratched behind her ear.  
Naruto had calmed down from his near-death experience, shortly glared at Tazuna with the words: "I bet this is all the bad karma you collected with your stupid lie, old man." and resumed to eat his breakfast.

"Why are you looking like a human? That's _not_ normal at all!" Sakura finally voiced her thoughts, as her brain finished processing all the new information she gathered, and the fo- human just shrugged.  
"Don't know. But it happened before."

Kakashi-sensei was still as calm as usual, making Sakura feel more at ease. If the new body of the summon was a problem, the Jonin surely would be more tense.  
Right? Kakashi-sensei wasn't really the most dependable Jonin Konoha had to offer to a young team of Genin. Or with the most people-skills.

"Hn" Sasuke had finished his meal just in time to let everybody know of his brilliant mind.  
"I take it, you don't know how to transform yourself back, too. Could it have something to do with what Kakashi told us? The chakra mixture of yours and that from Naruto?" Tenko gave him a pissed off look but shrugged her shoulders again.  
'_Huh, had she even thought about it before?_'

'_Sasuke-kun is so smart, of course, he'd figure out a theory! A great, strong ninja and extremely smart, too!_' Suddenly a soft punch to her shoulder pulled Sakura out of her dreaming state. The hand belonged to Tenko, who explained at Sakura's questioning expression.

"You went off to la-la-land. Couldn't lose you at such a critical moment. And your fangirling for him is disturbing." A slightly mocking and cheeky grin was spreading on her lips and the pink-haired girl could see the sharp teeth sticking out. To Sakura, this somehow got her thinking that the young woman was clearly resembling a fox. It certainly fitted her race. But somewhere the pink-haired girl noticed a sign of helplessness under the happy face.

**…**

_Tenko's POV_

"Tenko-chan, I think you should be more serious right now. We don't know why this happens to you or if it is influenced by your chakra. Remember last time?" Kakashi reminded me of how I had started to lose control and my first meeting with Danzo. '_Tsk. __How could I forget that?_'  
I let out a long and heavy sigh, rubbing my eyes in helplessness.  
"I do."

"What are you talking about?" The accusing voice of Naruto got my attention.  
He clearly did not like to be left out or kept in the unknown and it seemed to bother him very much, since it had something to do with me. I didn't want to tell him, at least not with audience. Our audience kept listening, obviously, and I decided to somehow sort it out with Kakashi before letting all the brats in on my personal problems.

"I'll tell you later, I promise." He gave me a serious look but actually let go of it for now, knowing about some delicate details in between. I was pretty sure he'd remind me later on to tell him everything. Seriously, how should I convey the possibility of a walking death threat in form of a cyclops (Danzo).  
Naruto did not have the temper to analyse every possibility of how to deal with this. I'd bet my fur on an enraged orange ninja stomping down the door to the Hokage's office and yell around like a wild ape. Snickering at this thought, I quickly bit my lip after receiving a harsh look from Kakashi.

Said ninja stood up from his place at the table, somehow making it look graceful even with crutches, and announced that training wouldn't do itself.

"But I haven't eaten yet." My complain was mainly ignored, but Inari's mother brought me a small bento box she'd quickly packed with my untouched breakfast. Lovely woman, really!  
She looked ready for a nervous breakdown.

**.**

We took a small walk around the village for patrol and were happy to see that no one from Gato's goons had dared to enter the area.  
I talked a bit with Naruto and he told the runt and pinky about the week I was a human back in Konoha. He basically told them about my exploitation of the situation to stay in his apartment, just reading and not do any sports or activities at all.

Snorting, the runt gave away that he was listening to the blonde's stories for once and commented with a: "Hn. She is lazy, what do you expect?"  
"Excuse me? If you try and insult me, do it according to the facts, runt. I was smart to use my one-week-break to relax and sleep."

Denying his comment would not do anything for me since the boy suffered from the gigantic-ego-and-always-being-right-syndrome. So not reacting with denial but still correcting him should do the trick.  
"Hn, you were always dozing off in class and hid in the school building to sleep when we had Taijutsu training. You _are_ lazy… and lucky for not having to pass any tests."

Or not…

"Of course I am lazy. You made it sound like I am a Nara without a brain, that's where you were wrong." I crossed my arms in front of my chest and had to use all my will power to not be rude. Naruto better appreciated my efforts.

"Maa, Sasuke-kun. You rarely talk this much, I'm impressed." Our sensei decided to cut in and led the way back to the woods. For Kakashi, his voice radiated with amusement and the runt and I looked away from each other with the same comment this time.  
"Hn."

**.**

Back at our usual clearing the boys and pinky were send to '_walk up trees, spar with each other or whatever_', before Kakashi and I sat down. Naruto's attention was more on us than on where he was going so the runt used it and make the blonde boy trip into a tree, smirking like the little bastard he was deep inside his heart made of a brick.

Somehow talks with Kakashi happened way too often in the last few days and I did _not_ appreciate it. At least we did not have 'the talk'.

"Did you hear the voice again since you transformed?" Kakashi didn't beat about the bush and I could see in the way his body tensed and he was holding himself. It was not the moment for bad timed jokes about schizophrenia.

Shaking my head, I tried to listen for whispers like last time, but everything was silent. Thank the ramen god. What came to my mind and took me by surprise was the question of why I heard the Kyuubi's voice in the first place. Him talking with Naruto, I wouldn't be as surprised and could understand considering he was sealed into Naruto, but me?

And why did I change my form? I just started learning how to use chakra for real and now I tried to figure out if the chakra was at fault. Should I pause my training? Man, this sucked balls.

"Do you think he is transforming me? Or maybe the chakra is causing it… but shouldn't it happen more often then? I've been training for some time now with Tenzo-Neko."  
Kakashi massaged his temples and gave a stretched 'hmm', before he answered.

"Both are reasonable speculations, but you could be right, that the chakra is not the cause of your transformation. Since you started training with Tenzo, he never mentioned any visible changes, just your obvious lack of control and the chakra leak on one occasion. But we don't have any similar experiences to help us out."

Taking everything from the last couple of months into account, Sakura was right. I was, in fact, not the most average, normal being in existence and that had to mean something when huge demons were sealed into children and people walked on water.

Additionally, I have been living publicly as the pet of a jinchuriki, walked on a leash through a ninja village, tried not to get into trouble (haha…), had to make a deal with a demon to use his chakra and was worse than a civilian when it came to the ninja business.

'_Why can't I be a talented and powerful summon or ninja but have to be me?_' I wallowed in self-pity for a moment, before I noticed the foreign voice in my mind again.

"_**Ts, you really suck, leech, but as long as you keep your word, I let you use my chakra. God, did I sink low. When I get my claws on that damn fourth Hokage, I'll rip off his skin in stripes. That's all his fault!"**_ It was the voice of the Kyuubi. I raised an eyebrow.

"You really found yourself a scapegoat. Aren't you the one who destroyed Konoha? Wow, you are… are you pouting?" I could hear him growl at my comments, but luckily I was still here and not in front of his strange cage. Hopefully, that was a one-time trip.

"Tenko-chan?" A confused Kakashi had lowered his voice to not attract the children's attention.

"Forget what I said before, his voice is back. Did you know that the fox demon is petty?" I was too amused about this fact to acknowledge the seriousness of the fact that I could hear the Kyuubi in my head again.

My lovely sensei did pick up on it.

"The nine-tails? Is he trying to control your thoughts again?" The man clearly tensed, but seemed hesitant, because I was relaxed and grinning in amusement.

"_**I can't, since you are aware of my voice now. What is wrong with you? And just so you know, leech, I did not change you into a human. Why should I? This form just needs more chakra than a stupid, tiny fox does and you are slower on two legs. If I did this, it would be to my disadvantage, so find the cause and fix it! Damn you useless, pathetic humans."**_

"No, he is complaining. Hehe, I didn't know his personality was this… human-like. And he said he had nothing to do with my transformations." At my comparison the voice barked at me with very colourful descriptions about my upcoming death. By his claws to skin me, of course. Or teeth to perforate me, or paws to crush me, any painful and bloody attack really.

Feeling way to confident and knowing that he only made the deal with me to keep Naruto (and therefore himself) save, I chose to ignore the death threats. My attention was back at the Copy-Ninja and we talked a bit about the possibility of the fox's chakra in my human body making it possible for the fox to communicate only in this form.

Had foxes a different nervous system for me to block him out unconsciously? Or was I more sensitive to his presence when not in my usual summon-form? Was the chakra spread differently? Kyuubi said I needed more chakra in a bigger form. Should I ask Naruto to let me absorb more chakra? Maybe I should.

"… Can you still control chakra? Don't tease the fox too much or he might take it away from you again." I took a moment to gather chakra in my palm, but somehow it was a little bit more difficult to sense the chakra flow at first, it was slower than before, and it took me more effort.  
I thought about Kakashi's statement for a moment.

We made a deal between foxes, so to say, to try and keep our lovely, blonde life insurance alive. My payment was control over his chakra, but he should be able to take it away from me whenever he wants to.

The fox knew that my will to live was strong enough to keep an eye on our little Uzumaki, much work to convince me was not needed. The chakra control was just to make me able to reach the blonde in time to catch a kunai for him. Hm, had I miscalculated and wrongly assumed for the favour to be in my position for the deal? We were not on equal terms, since the fox allowed me to use his chakra and I was supposed to heroically die in an attack for them.

In summary, yes, he could always take it away, but this was not healthy, for anyone of us.

"I won't tease too much, Kakashi. My problem for today is to decide if I should tell Naruto _everything_ I know. I mean, some highly respected son of a cyclops just waits to 'get rid' off me, I have a fucking voice of the monstrous entity that caused many people to die and make Naruto an outcast in my head and somehow I switch into a human form with disadvantages. And I only hear the Kyuubi's voice when I am not a fox. Do I tell him? Hell, should I have told him what I knew weeks ago?!"

'S_hould I tell him about Danzo? Maybe he can help me? Tz, how?! Paint the old man's house orange? I had better ideas before. But what can I do, really?_'

I got frustrated about the fact that I wanted the sweet boy to know but didn't know whether or not this was a smart idea. Naruto was very protective over the few things and people he had in life, the incident with Mizuki and Iruka was the best example, but how would Naruto react if I told him about my situation? I needed help, but my lovely friend was just a child himself and not near the title of Hokage.

The dark growl from the fox demon interrupted my thoughts.

"_**You really are stupid, even a newborn kit is smarter than you are."**_  
"Why, thanks. You have any more helpful comments? How about _you_ contribute some help?! And stop listening to my thoughts!" I called out to the monster. He snorted.

_**"I didn't choose to 'converse' with you in your head. There isn't much else up in there. And just think your answers or someone brings you into T&I before you are able to say 'ninja'."**_

'_Sure…yeez_.' I thought this time but got interrupted by Kakashi. Having to focus on two conversations at the same time gave me a headache. I could not multitask or do two things at the same time to safe my life. I was a mono-tasker! How was I supposed to manage two conversations?

"We have to tell Hokage-sama about your newest 'developments' as soon as we get back. I'll help to keep this confidential. If it gets public, I don't know how long you will survive in our village, to be honest."

'_Wow, isn't that an optimistic thought?_' I asked myself ironically and the Kyuubi actually gave a growl.

"_**If this gets you killed, I'll murder you first."**_

'_You are __not__ helping me right now! And please be quiet, it is hard to talk to both of you at the same time.'_

"I am living there for some months now, Kakashi. I even went to school with Naruto and we made friends with some of his classmates. Sure, most people don't like me, but they wouldn't kill me… right?" My sentence morphed into a desperate question.  
My goal in life was to grow old and everything fate threw at me was stumbling block after stumbling block.  
Kakashi just raised an eyebrow, being enough for an answer.

"Whoever put me into this mess surely hates me. I wake up being invisible, with no memory, no chakra, no one who knows me. I need chakra from a god-damn demon that attacked a ninja village and live there with a sweet boy who is a misunderstood child and an unknown number of people wants me to just die on the spot. Did I forget something?" I complained in frustration.

"You can talk with the Kyuubi inside your head and are a malfunctioning fox summon who somehow changes forms." Kakashi offered his two cents, causing me to face-palm and curse even more that I already did when I woke up this morning.

The Kyuubi snorted again and gave me a kind: _**"Pathetic"**_.  
'Thank the lord, at least I have you to pamper my ego.' I bit back and stood up. Kakashi looked at me and I answered his silent question.

"I'll check how much this form affects my chakra control in practise. Hopefully, it is not much worse. I didn't run up a tree all day for nothing."

Doing a few stretches and squats, I prepared myself to run up the tree. Yesterday I managed to get up halfway, which, for me, was a big achievement. Taking deep breaths, I felt out for chakra and noticed the thin flow. It was slow and reminded me of a viscous liquid.  
Typically, 'my' chakra felt like a strong and powerful river, wild like the Kyuubi's nature but staying in its path. Its potency costed me some time to learn and effectively lead it into different body parts, but now I had the problem to grasp it and gather it in my feet. It took more time, because it was slower than before and thinly spread. '_Whoever is responsible for this, is the son of a cow that did it with a donkey!_'

Kyuubi let out a snort.

I tested my grip on the ground, my foot held on and was steadily connected to the meadow, good. Being reassured that it should work out, I took a run-up to the tree trunk and dashed vertically up and after just a couple of metres I felt my chakra control waver due to its thinness and slow flow.

Quickly, I tried to push more chakra back into me feet, but I began to lose footing, before that chakra wave reached my feet and when it got to my foot, I broke the tree bark apart.

Falling to the ground, I tried to gain balance and possibly catch myself without breaking my bones. My feet touched the ground first and used the momentum to roll over the grass. I immediately looked up at the tree and all the bark from my attempt to keep going up was ripped of the trunk, leaving a naked spot with a diameter of over half a metre and a small pile of bark on the ground.

Naruto and our teammates were allowed to take a break and my blonde ramen-lover ran up to me, studying my accident. A low whistle left his lips.

"Wow, Tenko. Even the teme didn't assault his tree to such an extreme. But I have to admit, it's impressive. Maybe you can use that against opponents in a fight. There is no way, you'd lose. Believe it!"

Pinky and the runt were less excited to see my failure, as expected.

"Hn, so the dead-last _can_ be topped." He let out a very unnecessary and unwanted comment. I took the liberty to hit him upside the head.

**.**

The next couple of days passed by with Naruto and the runt competing the shit out of each other, Sakura actually giving hints and me royally failing the task of tree-running. My chakra control strangely was worse in human-form and even as a fox I was not good.

Kakashi was still convinced, that a 'friendly rivalry' between the pink-haired girl and myself was the formula to success for my poor performance and lack of conviction to physical training.  
He took every opportunity to pair us together or declare penalties for the looser of some made-up competitions.  
The only eager ones were Naruto and the Uchiha, the latter getting provoked into participating by the blonde.

Admitting, that it was working with the girl and me, too (since none of us wanted to do penalty-laps), we unconsciously teamed up sometimes to avoid Kakashi together.

This morning I didn't feel well, having a headache and stomach cramps through the whole night, so I was thankful, when Kakashi allowed me to stay in bed.  
That was what I did all day long, burying myself under my blanket and groaning sometimes to let out my discomfort.

"_**Can you shut up already? We all get that you are a weak, pathetic, whimpering human. Now be quiet or I kill you!"**_  
'_Oh, nice to hear you, too. If you are that annoyed then stop listening_.' I bit back just as bad-tempered as the fox sounded. He was too loud for my headache.

"_**Your voice echoes through the fucking cage, leech. There's no way I can ignore you, I tried. Now act like a fucking fox and grow some balls before I strangle you."**_  
'_How can you strangle me when you are just a voice in my head? And I'm a girl, I can't grow balls._' This fox was irritating. He let out a loud sound similar to an annoyed groan.

"_**The moment this cursed seal breaks and I get out, I will burn you away with my chakra. Now stop crying because of a stupid headache and start training! You are still useless, even more as a mere human!"**_  
'_I get it, you will kill me, get in line. There are some people with the same plan. And I am useless because I can't properly use your damn chakra. Help me out with that._' Did this damn furball expect me to be invincible and greatly skilled now that I could use his chakra? I called unrealistic expectations.

"_**I graced you with my chakra, even after you took it without asking and now you want more? I am not some servant, you worthless leech! I am the nine-tailed fox, a god next to you and you expect ME to help you?"**_  
Wow, _now_ he was pissed.  
Our quarrel wouldn't get anywhere. I was too annoyed and the demon too stubborn to back off first. And the loud voice in my head was not good for the pain I was in.  
'_Alright, alright, calm down… please. I think we both are not the best company today. Let's just ignore each other._'

"_**Tsk, you aren't worth more than that anyway."**_  
_'Thanks, now go back to sleep or whatever and I'll do, too.'_

"_**Don't tell me what to do!"**_  
_'I won't. Never had the idea.'_

"_**Shut up, leech."**_

It went quiet in my head again and after some tossing and turning I fell asleep.

**.**

When I woke up again, Team 7 was back and from the conversation I was able to pick up, Naruto had trained on his own again and was out cold by now.  
The door to our room was pushed open and Kakashi, now without crutches, carried Naruto inside and put him on his futon.

"Yo, Tenko-chan. Are you better now?" He gave me his eye-smile and pulled the blanket over my friend's body.  
"Mhm, yeah… he over-exhausted himself again?" I mumbled and pushed the hair out of Naruto's face.  
"You know he did."

Kakashi answered before the room was filled with an awkward silence. I shifted on my own futon, scratched my arm and tried to find something to say. Because of my day off, I was well rested and, when ignoring feeling sick, had enjoyed just laying around and not exercising.

By seeing my blonde room-mate out cold by training too much, I got to feel a bit guilty. Were my headache and cramps really bad enough to take the day off?  
Out of an impulse I'd say yes, but my lack of will power or lazyness might be a cause as well.  
Man, Naruto could often make me feel too lazy, even when unconscious.

"Dinner is just over, but I managed to save some for you. No thanks to the boys." Kakashi allowed himself to chuckle lowly. I nodded and pushed myself up. Laying around all day long and suddenly moving made me feel dizzy for a moment and I could clearly feel the low chakra levels in my body.

This form really needed way more than a tiny fox.

Absorbing chakra from Naruto right now was no option, since he himself was exhausted and he needed rest and some of the Kyuubi's chakra to regenerate for the next day. Were low chakra levels bad for my health? Or would I just feel a bit weaker than usual?

I pushed my concerns into the back of my mind and followed our sensei back to the table, where only Sakura and Sasuke sat. Tazuna and his family already went to bed, so we had the room for ourselves. Sitting down opposite to my favourite (cough) Genin, I inhaled the food and got irritated, because the kids didn't leave the table.  
Did something happen? Were they glued to the ground?

Nope, just after thinking that, they went to our room, the girl worshipping the ground the runt walked on. Yes, everything is the same with them. Just leaves one more person…

I fully turned to Kakashi and glared at him with narrowed eyes. He had said he'd saved me the food, willingly accompanied me to my dinner and silently sat with me.

Did he drug the food? … No, I should have tasted or smelled something, since my nose and ears were still better than those of normal humans. Oh no, did he…

"Please tell me, you do NOT plan to talk with me again." I pressed out my concern. "We did that too often already!"  
"I don't enjoy this myself, you know? But I have to tell you, what we found out today. About Zabuza, die ninja who attacked us." Oh, thank the gods, this wasn't about me and my problems. I immediately relaxed my shoulders.

"Alright, I'm listening." The Jonin had noticed my change in attitude, but chose to not comment on it. Good.  
"This is about the hunter-nin who killed Zabuza with the senbon and took him away. We are sure they work together and this was just an act. Being able to kill with senbon alone shouldn't be possible with our opponent. So-"

"Woah, woah, woah. Wait a second. Why not? Naruto said, they hit his neck. I'd say this is a fucking life threat!" I squeaked out.  
"Senbon are more useful to slow someone down, damage pressure points in his body and can be deadly to the heart. The hunter-nin pierced his neck where you have more options for senbon to paralyse someone. You have to use a dozen senbon directly into his skull and nervous centre at his neck in the back. The hunter-nin only used two in a non-lethal area. He probably just paral-"

"What?! You-, the man really is still alive?!" I barked out, not noticing that I disrupted Kakashi. My body lost all relaxation and I remembered their fight Naruto told me about. The man had to be very dangerous when even the Kyuubi was worried about his (and therefore our) life.  
Kakashi cleared his throat and continued.

"As I just said, we think this was just an act and we have to expect another attack on Tazuna. Tomorrow we escort him to the bridge and don't leave him alone."

I rubbed my face with my hands and let out a loud, non-feminine groan.

"You've got to be kidding me."  
"This is no joke, Tenko-chan." His voice, serious and with the underlying hardness, confirmed it.  
"Fuck."

We were quiet for another moment and I took the time to sort out my thoughts.  
This had to be a bad dream. The missing nin with, what Naruto told me to be, a sword the size of a grown man was still alive and we were walking around his target.

Yes, Kakashi was good to go again, but next to him our team consisted of an Uchiha with a superiority complex, a fangirl with more beauty products than kunai in her bag, my lovely, yet hotheaded room-mate and myself, a fox (now human) without any fighting skills, too little chakra reserves and hesitation to get herself into danger.

Yep, we were royally fucked.

This was death coming for us.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello everyone.**  
**I'm sorry it took me so long to finish the next chapter. **  
**Sadly, university keeps me very busy, but I still try to write new chapters as good as possible.**

**Here is a bit longer chapter than normally and I hope you enjoy it.**  
**Have a great day. :)**

* * *

Thanks to my day off and the news about the missing nin not only being alive but also having a skilled partner in crime, I was not able to sleep through the night. Like, at all.  
When Kakashi and Co. started to make signs of waking up, I pushed my face into my pillow to muffle a groan. Today we would go to the damn bridge and wait for some ninja to attack us.

The only person not waking up was Naruto, but Kakashi was kind enough to let the boy sleep. He had exhausted his chakra reserves too much and would be more than useless without it.  
Right now, Naruto was basically me, just a more capable and useful version with (usually) more chakra and determination.

While getting ready for the day I could feel the strange, low flow of chakra in my system and its less than enough amount made it difficult to gather any real strength.  
The last night I had thought about possible reasons why I felt the lack of chakra this time and not when we were back in Konoha and the only logical reason for me was that I actually tried to train a bit. Last time I was lazing around, not touching the chakra at all and I hadn't really used it before transforming.

I really needed some chakra, resulting in my decision to get some from Naruto when the boy would wake up fresh and rested. But for now, I had to ignore it and get moving.  
Kakashi had given me a handful of shuriken and kunai to have at least a few weapons should something happen or I'd have to defend myself. Why he was taking an untrained, unskilled, running-too-low on chakra person like me with them, I had no idea. But at this point I didn't dare to question the man.

He had allowed my sorry ass to spend the last day in bed, somehow managed to deal with my personality next to his Team's and tried to actually train me with my record of poor results. If our sensei wanted to have me around, I'd be around. This much I did own him.

On our way to the bridge I kept thinking about my current situation and the chances to change back into a fox. Last time is had been seven days and last night the sixth day had ended.  
Maybe I just had to wait? Breaking a bone just couldn't be the cause here. Pain was no trigger for a fucking transformation! Or else every ninja summon would transform wildly in a battle.

The bridge had a peaceful silence around itself with only the sea sometimes interrupting. Old man Tazuna was about to start his work, when mist spread through the whole area. When it hit my nostrils, I winced at the stench. Overall, it smelled like normal mist, but there was an underlying, foul smell to it. I tried to locate its origin when we could hear a voice echo around us and two figures appeared in front of us.

Pinky and the runt quickly pulled out their kunais and protectively stood in between the strangers and the old bridge builder.  
Not completely understanding what was going on, I just mimicked them and gave our sensei a question look. Then the mist allowed us to look past it and the two figures became actual people. One was a tower of a man with the same fashion sense as Kakashi had considering face masks and next to him stood another, shorter man with a strange mask on his face. It reminded me of the ones ANBU wore, but when I finally noticed the huge ass sword on the taller man's back, I realized him to not be an ANBU.  
They were Zabuza and the Hunter nin imposter.

Zabuza, the god-damn missing nin of the mist Naruto and Kakashi had told me about. One of a group of great swordsmen or something who can kill you before breakfast with a spoon as blunt as a marble. Swallowing heavily, I felt a tremor possessing my body and sweat started to build on my forehead.  
Sakura was in a nervous state as bad as mine, but what concerned me more than both our performance was my lack everything.

I was no trained ninja, I had no skills in Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, Genjutsu or throwing kunai. My chakra control had just taken three steps back when I transformed last week, and I was running too low on chakra for it to be comfortable. Hell, I wasn't even human. I was defenceless, and useless, and I could more than easily die.

The terror of this revelation hit me hard and my knees nearly gave out. Not being able to get enough air into my lungs, I clenched my fist into the fabric of my clothes and my eyes searched for any point to fix on.  
'_I do not want to die. Run! I am afraid to go against those people. Just run away!_' Those thoughts haunted my mind and my vision went blurry for a second.

The chakra in my system felt like I had too many holes and the thin stream wasn't much more than the mist around us.  
'_Please, no. I don't want to die. No, no, no! I just started living. Please, someone save me_!' my mind was screaming, when a thundering voice be through my rambling.

"_**Fucking leech! I will crush you under my feet just enough to slowly die if you dare to run! You are pathetic, even more than those disgusting insects calling themselves human! Run now and I suffocate you with the fucking rest of my chakra! You fox without pride are dead!"**_

My hands buried themselves into my short hair and I tried to breath through the naked fear and the pain in my head. The dizziness from the early morning caught up to me again and I wavered in my stance. The little rest of my chakra wasn't enough to strengthen my body and I sacked to my knees, being blind and ignorant to the world.

Kyuubi kept on shouting and cursing me, my body could not stop trembling and my breathing faltered the more I tried to get a grip on myself.  
'_Why did I come here in the first place? Why did I leave my safe bed when I knew to be nothing more than dead meat? I want to go home! I don't want to die_!'

"_**Shut up with your complaining and make sure the kid survives this guy when he arrives. This is the only thing you have to do and I don't care if you run straight into your pathetic death."**_  
'_But I do! I told you, I like being alive and now I'm even weaker than as a fox. Zabuza will kill me! I don't want that! I just want to live._' I felt the pressure of my problems crashing down on me again, ten times worse than ever before.

Too caught up in my level of stress, I didn't notice the sudden silence at first. I was still rolled up in a ball when I started to feel my chakra seep through my mind and guiding me to its very thin but steady flow.  
'_What is happening? Wasn't the chakra just a bundle of holes_?' I opened my eyes, which I didn't remember closing and was met with a strange red wall. It was all around me and covered my body, until it was lifted over my head and I saw Sakura holding my clothes in her hand and looking at me in wonder.

The strange calmness of feeling my chakra again, not hearing the Kyuubi bark around in my head and being back in my fox form slowed down my breathing and I took a short look around.  
My panic attack and transformation couldn't have taken more than a minute maybe judging by the fight between Kakshi and Sasuke against Zabuza and the fake Hunter nin just starting, while it felt like an hour of suffocation, a too loud demon voice ripping through my ears and the terror of death.

"What the fuck?" The low voice of the missing nin was the last thing needed to bring me back to reality. "Are you kidding me to bring- whatever that is to a fight?" Zabuza snarled while I shakily got back on my four pats.

"Are you ok?" Sakura asked while letting my clothes fall next to us on the ground. I blinked a few times in hope of getting the few spots out of my vision, but I guessed they were caused by my low chakra reserves.

"a- I… I don't know," was the only thing I could produce at the moment. Were my ears still hurting or did my voice sound strangely rough and quiet?

Sakura nodded and stood back up, being on guard to protect the old man behind us.  
Understanding that nobody would baby me around right now, I tried to push the fear and upcoming embarrassment of my painfully obvious panic attack away for another day to worry about. It worked for the embarrassment, but mot the fear still lingering in my system.  
The only good thing it did for me, was to sharpen my senses even more than they already were from being a fox summon.

This was the only thing alerting me from the figure starting to run towards us from a direction that should be one of our few blind points. Zabuza had used the short confusion about my form change to create a clone and send it to attack us.

Reacting purely on instincts, I ducked through the old man's legs and with a long jump I locked my teeth in the thigh of the clone, making him stumble shortly.  
This was all the time Kakashi's own clone needed to kill his opponent's and make it dissolve in a cloud of smoke.

Losing the object I had sunken my teeth in, I landed on the ground, but before I could even attempt to stand back up or go anywhere, the spots in my vision spread and with a weak disruption in my chakra stream I fainted.

**.**

When I finally came to the world, I was cradled in Naruto's arms and securely pinned to his chest. I lolled my head around and rapidly blinked my eyes to get my surroundings back into focus.

The wooden walls and futons spread around us made me guess to be back in Tezuna's house and pinky and the runt were sleeping in another corner of the room. Forcing my head to look up at Naruto I also saw Kakashi carefully studying me while strange orange things swirled around my blonde Uzumaki and myself.

'_Oh, right. That's chakra_.' I slowly noticed and tried to focus my eyes on Naruto's face. The boy looked like he took a walk through a meat grinder, but the chakra slowly patched him back up.

"Tenko, hey. How are you feeling?" The soft voice of my friend helped me to fully wake up and I noticed the feeling on fatigue still numbing my limbs a bit. Smacking my flews together a few times to get rid of the uncomfortable dryness in my mouth, I sighed loudly.

"Tired, just- tired," I answered and the blonde nodded shortly. The chakra was still being absorbed into my body. '_For how long is he feeding me the stuff already? And where are_-'  
Interrupting my own thought by the sudden alert my brain sent out, I wiggled out of Naruto's hold and looked around in stress.

"Where are they? Zabuza and the other one! What happened?" My voice was still weak so I didn't wake the two Genin up, but Naruto pulled me back into his arms and started patting me.

"They are dead." My head wiped around and I took a look at my blonde friend. Not really about the meaning of the sentence, but the broken tone of his voice. Naruto looked so sad and hurt by the death of his enemies that I wanted to pull the boy into a hug and push all the badness away from him. How could he grieve at the loss of people who wanted to kill him?  
Snuggling into Naruto's hold, I tried to give him physical comfort which he obviously needed.

I also turned my head to Kakashi with a look that said 'spill it'.  
And Kakashi was kind enough to tell me about the fight, the fucker Gato and the real people and tragedy behind the faces of Zabuza and Haku.  
Naruto was clearly affected by their fates, making me feel even more affection towards my young Uzumaki. He was a boy growing up in a world that hated and branded him as a monster and he was a shinobi, but the goodness and empathy in his heart never vanished.

Succumbing to a short silence, Naruto calmed down and tried to lighten the mood, telling me about his accomplishment for having the bridge named after him. The little rascal really knew how to leave an impression!

**.**

After everybody was back to their full strength and the bridge being completed, Inari snuggled and crushed me in his hugs with all his strength before we left for our way back home.  
The villagers bid their farewell and Naruto enthusiastically waved back until we couldn't see them anymore.

Pinky had started walking next to me after some while and even tolerated Naruto nervously blabbering to her for the time being.

.-.-.

When Naruto had given me all the chakra I needed and the pink-head had woken up, she and I went out to get food for everyone else still resting. Kakashi had tied a bag on my back so I was useful without hands. Then the girl told me her side of the story in a strange sense of closeness.

"…- and when Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun were in that- that glass thing not able to get out I felt so useless. I was so scared and had to protect Tezuna-san and you were lying there barely breathing. All the time I have to depend on the boys, but when Naruto suddenly shattered the Kekkai Genkai and Haku died for Zabuza I was released. Just relieved to not being the next one fighting and for their fight to finally be over. I am weak, I couldn't protect Tezuna-san if I really tried and… I couldn't do anything."

The girls last sentence wasn't more than a whisper, but I could easily pick it up.  
She felt the same way I did, with the difference being my terrible fright and numbing awareness of death to make me completely lose my cool. She had at least kept her shit together.  
I snorted at this thought.

"I don't like complimenting you, girly, but you did your job. I suck at the whole ninja business, but I know that someone had to protect the old man with me being out of commission. So, don't drown yourself in self-pity, that's my part. And don't you think this makes us friends," I quickly added to my lame, hypocritic speech, but my voice clearly lacked any sign of harshness and seriousness in the last sentence.  
Like I just offer my friendship out loud. Nah, she was still too fangirl-ish, but I had to acknowledge the fact that she was more skilled and useful than me. And underneath the girlishness she had a decent personality. It mentally hurt to accept this fact, but I had to if I wanted to get anywhere in my stupid life. Being petty until I went grey and old wouldn't help and I sadly was mature enough to reflect on myself and my flaws, of which I had more than enough.

Pinky chuckled at the things I said and seemingly came to the same conclusion as I did.  
"A real truce for seriously working as a team then?"  
I agreed and after buying everything we needed, we went and grabbed some sweet baked goods. Sakura gave me a piece big enough for me to satisfy my craving but small enough to not possibly affect my health badly.  
Somewhere I doubted a summon having the same digestion problems or intolerance for human food normal animals had, but it was the thought that counted and even pinky knew how religiously Naruto tried to feed me only animal friendly food and dismissing most of my own want for normal food once in a while (ignoring our first week and some treats here and there).

Since that situation our relationship got better, but, of course, none of us would admit it, especially not to Kakashi. His knowing eye-smile was more than enough for both of us to openly ignore him and conveniently forget about all his annoying attempts to bring us closer. Which impressed me, because I knew about pinky's desire to please the man.

.-.-.

Remembering the short while I had 'lasted' in the fight against Zabuza, I only remembered feeling fear and terror of dying and realizing how weak and defenceless I really was. Gridding my teeth at those memories, I couldn't even feel my usual self-pity. This was just pathetic, in the words of a certain fox demon.  
How was I able to just walk through the world and expect to survive all those months before?

For the whole journey back to Konoha, I pondered over my upcoming 'visit' to the Hokage's office. By sneaking out of the village I had broken a rule directly made by Sarutobi and I betted for Danzo be filled with glee to know about that.  
'_Has he already contacted the Third? Did he wait for the old man to find out himse- Oh no, Tenzo-Neko give have my head on a silver plate! Will they even allow me back into the village? _' My thoughts basically were only these and they just repeated themselves over and over again.

When the village came back into our view I was ready to run, tensing up and nearly giving in to my body's response of flight, but Kakashi just shoved me forwards with his leg.

"Don't get tired _now_, Tenko-chan. We are nearly there," he said in a strangely loud way and the next second I found out about the reason. Naruto had pulled me into his arms and started running home, while I was being shaken and swung with every step.  
This demon of a sensei used the blonde's concern for me to stop me from bunking out.

Izumo and Kotetsu were sitting in their booth as usual and the latter had a crocked grin on his face when he saw my misery. Bastard.  
Kakashi and the rest of Team 7 caught up to us and our sensei directed us to the Hokage's office to report back. My short Uzumaki still had me in his arms and none of my wiggling or struggling worked. Oh boy.

Inside Sarutobi's office, Naruto started bragging about the succeeded mission and his own bridge. The old man was patient enough to let the kid talk and have his teammates comment on it occasionally. When the official shit was done, Sakura and the runt were dismissed.  
For a moment the room was filled with the silence before the storm, making the sound of Sarutobi's chair getting shoved back even louder.

He walked around the table and lowered himself to inspect my appearance, clearly noticing my ears aka the healed wounds rendering his seals useless. Immediately I took a great amount of interest in the wooden floor and forced myself to not put on my ears and thereby denying his the clear view.

"When you came here in need of help, I not only decided to give you what you needed but even allowed you to stay, fully knowing about the consequences. You begged to stay and 'do everything I would ask for' and we provided special training for your lack of chakra control. Those seals were very important and now they are destroyed. Why is that?"  
The old man's voice was clear and strict. No a, disappointment or hostility could be filtered out, but it was clear that I better had a good explanation.  
"I-I- am," I swallowed and tried to find the right words. Didn't my reasoning sound convincing in my head? Why was I doubting it right now to save my skin?

"Tenko left the village to protect me when Zabuza attacked us. She came to help her team, dattebayo!" Naruto proclaimed loudly, took a step between the Hokage and my humble self and stared the man right into his old eyes.  
Holy kami of all ramen, the sweet boy had balls of steel!

Sarutobi slowly stood back up and gave the blonde a long look. He was understanding the boy's protests, which didn't have to mean that he also accepted them. Kakashi was quick enough to snatch the blonde out of the middle and pulled him to his side.

"Naruto, this is not the time nor the situation to interrupt a conversation. We came here as support, not to jump at every question," was the kind but serious reminder. Naruto conflictedly looked between the old man and me and I gave him a hesitant nod, before he decided to at least try and calm down.

Then I told the Hokage everything I had talked about with Kakashi. Naruto's outrageous and/or shocked expressions reminded the Jonin and myself that we completely forgot to fill Naruto in.

I told both males about my strange meeting with the Kyuubi in front of a sealed cage, our deal to protect Naruto and how our lives were both interlinked with his.  
About the Kyuubi's voice in my head when I suddenly turned human again and his lack of influence in my thoughts, the Kyuubi's own cluelessness about my transformations.  
The problem in chakra reserves in both forms, the reoccurring time span of seven days as a human, my backsteps in chakra control in the other form.  
Even what I heard Danzo say about killing me after he'd left the Hokage's office and his own agents spying after me in Konoha.  
Everything I knew by this point in time, and I was sure the Kyuubi demanded for my head to talk about our conversations and his lack in power to kill an annoying leech like me.

When I finally finished, Naruto could be described as a boiling kettle just waiting to explode and do who knows what to who knows whom. Kakashi sometimes provided his own intel from his perspective and really succeeded in making clear points why my actions should not result in treason, death or getting banned. And he managed to underline the fact that Kyuubi did not control me once four times in subtle ways.

Sarutobi allowed our storytelling and attentively listened to everything we said.  
Then there was silence again, tense and uncomfortable. I tried not to squirm too much on my spot or look behind me to my teammates too often. I did not manage to do any of both.

"Kakashi, you had more time to get familiar with this… situation and your reasoning shows me your siding with Tenko. I respect your opinion and decision, but I can not and will not turn a blind eye on this matter." The Hokage's attention was back on me. "You broke the rules and even left the village. This will have consequences no matter the reason. I will call for you after I decide on your punishment. The ANBU will be back for observation, and you are not allowed to coax them into conversations this time around. But for now, you can go."

Relieve filled me to the brim and I was ready to cry, but my common sense reminded me to wait until I was back outside.  
Naruto and Kakashi led the way, but when I stood in the door frame, the Hoakge's demands finally reached my brain.

"H-Hokage-sama?" He gave me a short glance to show he was listening. "Does this mean I can't talk to Tenzo-sensei again?"  
The old man paused for a moment but continued reading his papers.

"You will continue your training under him after your daily team practice, but whether or not you two talk again is up to him."  
It was clear as day that our conversation was over, so I quickly nodded my head in a short bow before leaving.

Naruto was angry, rightfully, and started throwing a fit at our sensei and me. We had forgotten to tell the blonde about what exactly was going on and the problems with a certain one-eyed person just waiting to get rid of me. I had expected him to be angry, to blame us for leaving him in the dark when I was his friend, his roommate, his 'pet'. What neither I nor Kakashi seemed to expect was the end to Naruto's monologue.  
"I am so god damn disappointed in you Tenko and thought you trusted me!"

"wha- wait, Naruto, I-"

"NO! I really thought you would come to me with your problems, but you didn't. Leave me alone for now. Just- leave me alone."  
He turned around and ran off over the roofs with Kakashi and me looking after him. When my blonde friend left for another direction, I could see tears.

Quickly standing up, I was about to run after him, but the Jonin easily caught me in the air.  
"Give him some time. We both excluded him on a personal matter and what he needs right now isn't you or me." I was set back on the ground.  
"He is strong and he will forgive you." With that he body-flickered away and I was left on the street.

What was I supposed to do now? Leave Naruto time to himself, yes, but what could I do? I didn't really have any friends beside my blonde Uzumaki and I still felt down for being this mean to him. I also had to wait for the Hokage to decide on a punishment… great.

Letting out a deep sigh, I suddenly noticed a weak smell in the air. It was pinky's shampoo.

We did decide on a truce and she knew that I left the village without permission. Well, we didn't tell the runts any sensitive details, but they were familiar with my 'case' and I was guessing we all didn't hate each other, right?

Grabbing at any straw I could find, I made up my mind to find pinky and talk with her for a bit. We shared the same, well, quality of uselessness, mine was even worse than the girl's. Maybe she'd give me some tips on tree-running again?  
If I wanted to be able to survive in a fight and protect Naruto's (and therefore my) life, I needed to get stronger. And I hated this fact. My favourite hobbies were being lazy and not getting hurt. Training covered both.  
But for the first time I managed to beat my laziness and made my way over Konoha's roofs, always following the smell of shampoo.

**.**

I found the girl armed with an apple in front of some booth selling dango and other sweets, drooling at the wonderful smell of sweets but having a firm grip on the piece of fruit.  
'Oh dear god, she is still into this dieting stuff.' I rolled my eyes at her stupid decision while ignoring the hypocrisy of doing so. If anybody had shown a talent for stupid acts in the last two weeks, it had to be me.

"Oi, Pinky, you have a moment?" Said girl was pulled out of her sugary daydreams. She gave me a 'huh' while still staring at the sweets as if threatening them to run away from her.

"You know, if you buy them, you can smell and eat those things." The spell was broken and Sakura remembered owning an apple, which quickly lacked a big bite.

"Tsk, I will get fat and Sasuke-kun won't fall in love with me then." Wow, just back from a mission and the girl fell back into her old behaviour quickly.

"You really think he is on the edge of falling for you right now? You have the body of a kid, straight and too thin. Womanly curves are made of fat, not fruit and vegetables." That earned me a grim glare, but I just countered with a wry smile.  
"Do you have some time to talk with me? I could need that." I finally admitted to the real reason I ran after the girl, surprising her just as much as I did myself by thinking about this.

"Ehm, sure… you want to go somewhere else?" Sakura looked around us and seemed to notice the less than kind looks some people threw at me. Not that I really cared about civilians, they were the only ones not posing a threat to me. At least not in huge crowds.  
I led Sakura over the roof tops and we came to the training ground, finding a nice place under a big tree. Then Sakura and I just looked around and felt awkward. The insults and bickering normally ok up all our conversation.  
I already smelled the ANBU sitting in a tree some distance away.

"What do you want to talk about? And why me? Not that I mind…" The pink-haired girl was kind enough to make the start, when I didn't talk for a minute.

"It isn't hard to believe that I don't really have friends, right?"

"You expect an honest reply?"

"No, that's enough of an answer," I said and let out a humourless laugh. "I know I can be… a bit harsh when it comes to you brats. It's just- you know- I mean-" I let out a deep sigh and finally looked up to meet Sakura's eyes.  
"Naruto rescued me from being a fricking ghost and everybody was hating and excluding him wherever we went. He is such a good-hearted boy who wants to be liked and loved like everyone else and no matter what he does, they all are seeing what the whispers tell about him.  
But you guys changed. Sure, you get annoyed by Naruto, sometimes I am, too. But you don't hit him as much or are rude to him as you were back in the academy. Even the runt is kinder in his own way."

I could smell the moment of distress the ABNU was in and send him a quick glance.  
'I won't tell her. Yeez, chill out. I already broke enough rules for the time being.'

Sakura deeply thought about my statement and her expression saddened a bit.  
"Oh… wow… you are right. All the parents only talked bad about Naruto-kun, even when they picked their children up. I never noticed."

I couldn't suppress the snort. "Of course, you didn't. You guys were brought up this way and parents are always right."

"And… I do appreciate that you tried to get along with Sasuke-kun and me. It is always difficult to step over one's shadow. So, I am all ears." She gave me a smile and I knew I made the right decision.

So I told Sakura about Naruto being angry with me, because I kept something very important from him without meaning it 100%, I didn't specify any details, and that I was fed up with being this weak and decided to ask the girl for some advice and wait until Naruto calmed down enough to ask for his forgiveness.

"We trained a week together and none of Kakashi-sensei's or my advice helped you really."

"I reached halfway up the tree and in the human form my chakra reserves aren't high enough to even use it and its consistence changes. No, my flow is slowed down I think, and it is even more difficult to gather chakra when there are holes."

Sakura looked at me as if I just confessed to be a horse and have two heads. Okay, maybe I was overwhelming her with the information given.

"You really are a strange summon."

"Thank you."

"That was _no_ compliment."

"I know. Do you mind watching over my poor attempts to run up this tree?" I nodded at the one we were sitting under. It was certainly high enough to be a challenge.

"Sure, just don't destroy the tree again." Pinky chuckled and I appreciated her efforts for a nice conversation. "Then I will do some kunai throwing exercise over there. I'll have a good look on you as well."

I nodded and we both stood up. Sakura went to the tree next to us while I concentrated chakra into my paws. Compared to the troubles I had in Wave, this was easier than stealing a baby's pacifier.  
Getting more speed on the ground I ran up the tree and I even managed to reach over the half when I had to concentrate my chakra balance from slipping up.  
Making a short mark with the swipe of my short claws, I let myself fall back down and even managed to land on my feet.

Being on a short high of bliss for the great first try, I looked over to Sakura who gave me a thumbs up. I grinned back while showing my teeth in a comical way and took a deep breath before trying again and again.  
For the next uncounted tries I managed to get about the same height before losing balance on the chakra in my paws.  
We had started after lunch time and now the sun started setting. Sakura had always changed from throwing her weapons to training her jutsus and back to throwing pointy weapons.

"You always get nearly the same result. What are you doing when you get to the mark?" Sakura asked and pointed at all the short slashes centred around my first one. I crocked my head at the question.

"Well, I concentrate on the chakra and my grip, because I always lose it there."

"Naruto had a similar problem with his chakra control. He is just unpredictable enough to get it after training 24/7, maybe the chakra you got from him is just the same? The moron somehow does everything without thinking. He should have thought about just transferring his chakra to you."

"Haha, yeah he- That's it!" I cried out, making the girl jump. "Pinky, you are a genius!"

"What? What did I do?" She was confused and didn't see any real clue in her statement.

"Naruto does everything like a headless chicken. Maybe I was overthinking it. I just have to think about anything BUT chakra!"  
This earned me the most disapproving and sanity-questioning look she's ever given me. And I thought I'd heard today's ANBU give himself a face- mask palm.

"Please tell me, you are joking."

"Nope."

"Oh my-… and how do you plan to think about something else then chakra while doing a chakra control exercise?" I clearly heared the sarcasm in Pinky's voice, but decided to ignore it. In her decision I'd have humoured her as well.  
'_Personal growth, she is right to think of you as stupid'_ I reminded myself and looked around. Then my eyes found just the objects I needed.

"Throw your kunai and shuriken at me."

"WHAT?" I had to correct myself. _Now_ she officially declared me clinically insane.

"If you throw those things at me, I don't have the time to think about controlling my chakra. And seeing your results, you would mostly manage to stripe me without life threatening injuries." My elaboration did not convince the girl.

"You ask me to throw weapons for killing at you. No! I could seriously hurt you if you don't dodge correctly." Sakura was against my idea.

"I don't like getting hurt, that's why I avoided training before and _will_ dodge your attacks now. If you don't trust in me, trust in your throwing abilities and lack to get the bulls eye." That got me a justified bump on my head.  
Ouch, the girl could hit. Why didn't she do that to Zabuza?

"Let's try it, come on. We can do a test run and then the sun is too far down anyways," I tried again and to my big surprise, Sakura agreed.

"But just shuriken. Kunai are more lethal."

While she went to pick up her shuriken, I mentally tried to prepare myself by not thinking about chakra. Yeah, this was just as effective as saying 'Don't think about pink elephants. It just doesn't work.

"I'm ready," came Pinky's less than euphoric notice, actually kicking my mind out of it's short loop and running to the tree.  
I jumped up and my paws touched the tree bark when I could hear the first shuriken fly through the air with its unique whistling sound. Seeing the weapon in the corner of my eye I was able to take a step to the side just in time.  
Why couldn't the girl shoot the centre to safe her life but spill my guts when she was not supposed to hit the target?

I curled my tails around me and kept running, hearing out for the next whistle.  
There it was, no, three shuriken this time. I turned my head just enough to see the throwing stars chase after me and took a side step again, then back and even one step to push me up faster. The last one didn't hit me directly, bit I felt it taking some fur too close to my skin for comfort.

Another half dozen shuriken came at me.  
"Woman, do you want to kill me?" I shrieked out and seeing no other possibility to dodge, I ran around the tree in a circle, letting the metal hit the spot I just ran on.  
Then my balance went of and I barely managed to jump on the neared tree branch, breathing heavily and giving the pink-haired girl a short, half-heartedly glare. She, for her part, stood there with big eyes and an open mouth.

"I can't believe it. Your stupid idea really worked!" Taking in my surroundings I noticed to be near the highest part of the tree, where someone as big as a human had trouble fitting through the branches.

"Holy- !" I gasped and Sakura used her chakra to walk up the tree and collect all her shuriken.

"You crazy animal really did it. But how will you keep this up? We can't throw all our weapons and jutsus at you just to run up trees." The girl had reached me and picked me from the tree.

"In a real fight the opponent does that. And if it works here, I might be able to really fight in the future." Sakura laughed out.

"Don't get ahead of yourself. You just did the first real exercise we learned two years ago in the academy." On the ground I was let go off and we left the training ground to go home.

**.**

Arriving in front of the apartment, reality came crushing back in and I felt a lump in my throat. Naruto had told me to leave him alone, but would he really be fine again? He was really angry and disappointed in me, well, in Kakashi and me, but the Jonin did not have to sleep here.

Quickly deciding to chicken out, I turned around and left for Kakashi's place. Thanks to my mild stalking as a ghost I had found his small apartment and knew my way to him.  
Over the roofs, I only needed a minute and just before jumping on his windowsill I remembered the time a pigeon landed there and was never to be seen again. The man was more paranoid than Sarutobi and Danzo combined.  
Altering my path, I landed at his front door and turning around, I used my back paw to knock on his door. Not that a professional ninja hadn't noticed me already.

I waited by counting to ten and then knocked again. No footstep was heard.

"Ka-ka-shiii-sen-seeeei! Open up, you are home, I can smell you!" Well, wasn't I nice. A few seconds later, no foot steps were heard, the man opened his door with the usual eye-smile.

"Maa, Tenko-chan. Whom do I own the pleasure of your visit?"  
As quickly as my paws would carry me did I push myself inside.

"I think Naruto is still angry with me, so I want to crash at your place."

"You _think_ he's still angry?"

"I wasn't brave enough to enter our apartment. Please, don't kick me out. I don't take much space, can warm your feet and am toilet trained." I tried to appeal to the shinobi.  
A second later I had a hand in my neck, grabbing my fur and pulling me up. I dangled in front of Kakashi's face and he gave me a look saying 'Not convinced'. I gave him a short lick over the mask where the tip of his nose was.

"Pretty please?" I was thrown out.

"Go home. The boy is already waiting for you." Then the door was being locked.

I sat on the ground for a moment in annoyance at the rough handling, my tails tapping on the ground and I thought about Kakashi's statement. Was Naruto really waiting for me?

Hesitantly, I made my way back home over the roof tops again and the last sunlight disappeared just before I finally was back where I started. Taking a deep breath and turning around, I knocked on the door with my back paw. This time I did not have to wait, because in the period of one second the door was pulled open with enough force to nearly rip out the rusted hinges.  
Naruto looked down at me, a worrying expression on his face, followed by relief and then something I did not like to see. He was upset.

"Do you know what time it is? Where were you?!" The boy nearly yelled, but composed himself just as fast as he had said those words. Then he went back in and made a head movement to follow him inside.  
The blonde Uzumaki went to the bed and sat himself down with crossed legs and arms. Then I noticed him already wearing his pyjamas.

"Just to make things clear: I am still angry and it really hurt to know you kept information like those from me. I really thought you'd trust me more, dattebayo."  
There was a short silence and I didn't dare to utter one sound. I had hurt Naruto. I angered and disappointed him, so of course, he wouldn't just smile and everything was back to be happily ever after.

"I still need some time to think everything through and I expect this to not happen again, you hear me?" I simply nodded. The blonde gave a nod as well, turning out the lights and shifting under the blanked.

"Good. Then get into bed, it's late."  
With a strong jump I leaped into bed and Naruto was kind enough to hold up the blanket for me to lay under it.  
This night he did not tackle me with his usual wrestling hug, but I was still allowed to roll myself into the space next to his stomach.

* * *

**As you might have noticed in the last few chapters, I went a bit away from the all funny content. I think no story can be just happy and humour, so, yeah. I hope you still enjoyed it. :)**


	14. Chapter 14

A new chapter. (:

Enjoy

* * *

Against popular belief, Naruto and I did not talk the matter at hand out. He did not mention my non-existent display on 'show trust to your roommate by sharing your problems early on' and I, honestly, didn't have the spine to ask again.

When the alarm went off and Naruto accidentally threw the clock off the bedside table, he wrapped his arms around my tummy and pushed his face into my fur.  
Grumbling something like 'too early to wake up, Kakashi-sensei is late anyway' the sweet boy seemed to have forgotten our- my little debacle. Which was a bit suspicious to me.  
Naruto had no petty or resentful bone in him, but I expected a bit more consequence in this department. Maybe I should teach him the art of holding a grudge?

At least he finally noticed the routine of Kakashi's tardiness and maybe we could use it to sleep in. Nope. He stood up and mercilessly dragged me with him to the bathroom, where he completely awoke and got ready for the day.

"You have to see your strange sensei after team practice, right?" Naruto asked while washing his hair and I barked out a laugh, caught of guard by the comment.

"Like Kakashi is not a strange sensei. Tenzo-sensei at least doesn't read porn right in front of your face and only gives eye-smiles."

"But you said he gave you the strange grin-smile every time your exercises got more difficult. Only a sadist finds pleasure in mean things." That earned the blonde an impressed look.

"My, my, Naruto. Reading the dictionary now, do we? You'd have to add Kakashi and the runt on that list." Cleaning his hair from the shampoo, Naruto actually nodded.

"Why do you call the teme a runt? Sakura-chan said a runt is like the weakest member in a group of animals. I wouldn't describe him as weak and he was the best in school… just because nobody saw my hidden genius."

"Hidden indeed, theory never was your strength. Good grades don't make someone a genius or good ninja. So, let me call the runt a runt when I want to, sweetheart. What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger and the boy does deserve the title."

"Huh."

Our conversation ended there until we met up with the rest of Team 7, well, the Genin of the group and my humble self without any ninja rank, at least.

"Good morning, Sakura-chaaan… Teme." Naruto dignified the Uchiha with a greeting.  
Damn, the boy was too nice for his own good. From what I heard about the fight _against_ Zabuza and Haku but then _with them_ against Gato, the boy actually shielded Naruto from a senbon attack. Okay, the greeting was granted.

"Morning, Sakura, runt." The girl gave me an honest smile and greeted back.

Uchiha showed his endless affection in a single, well pronounced 'hn'.

Having finished our ping pong of greetings, we all didn't bother looking around for our sensei. Pfft, like he would be early for once.  
Pinky freely chattered to the runt and even included Naruto after the first ten sentences. Oh, progress! She told them about our private training session and how I fucking finally managed to control chakra for a decent amount of time.  
Not that I liked showering in compliments, but I was pretty sure I grew one or two centimetres when Naruto started petting my head and showed his delight.  
And this was the moment, when the nice morning came to an end with a snort.

"You really needed someone to throw lethal weapons at you just to control chakra? No wonder you are the dope's summon."  
I was about to say something back, as stupid as I valued the runt's opinion, when, with a puff of smoke, Kakashi appeared in front of us. We all took a deep, audible breath in pure shock and Sakura found the strength in her to squeak out a sentence.

"Y-you are nearly on time!"  
Naruto grabbed the fabric at his heart, near fatigue, but recovered next.

"What is WRONG with you 'ttebayo?!"

Uchiha-brat and I glanced at each other as to check that, yes, we were both awake and yes, that was Kakashi-sensei in front of us. I stared back at our lovely Jonin and could hear the runt whisper a quiet 'Kai'. No Genjutsu either then.

"Maa, you are all so lively early in the morning, my cute little Genin. Some might call it the power of Youth."  
I lowered my eyes at the man and took a sniff. Yeah, this man smelled of dog, minty soap and the usual detergent for ninjas to get the blood stains out of the laundry. All in the usual proportions.

"Did you hit your head, sensei? Should we take you to the hospital?" Sakura asked the man in a concerned voice, which made him hang his head in defeat.

"You decide to be on time just once and your team thanks you by being rude."

"As you said, 'just once'." I commented.

The runt let out a stupid snort and I fully expected another wonderfully short 'hn', but reality wasn't functioning today like it should.

"It's 6:35 am, you are still five minutes late. Your reputation isn't completely destroyed, don't worry." Pause.

"Holy hell of the chicken king and his mother! Uchiha, did you just try to be funny? Are _you_ okay?" I basically yelled up into the boy's face. Seriously, what was _wrong_ with everybody?!

"We really have to go to the hospital," Pinky mumbled and I could only agree.

"Maa, maa, calm down. We have to end team practice early today, so we have to start early, too."

"Sensei, we could always end early would you just be on time," Naruto provided a good argument and the Copy-ninja shook his head in a fake disappointed way.

"Naruto-kun, you four would have way too much free time then and could slip from the right path. Just imagine going home from practice and stumbling into drug trafficking or befriending missing-nin. No, I have to occupy your time to protect your innocence."

"By training us to become payed killers? And I don't have enough free time to convert to the dark side, I still have my lovely evening practice." My two cents were gracefully ignored.

"Today we will practice stealth and tracking. You have seen me use my ninken to find and hold Zabuza in place in our fight. When we take on high ranked missions in the future the skills to find your opponents will be very useful. And we even have a fulltime summon with a good enough nose-" "Hey!" "- on our team. It would be wasted potential not to polish… any sort of skill she might have."  
The three pre-teen were kind enough not to call out all the insults and I decided to somehow pay the man back later on. Kakashi did his fancy hand signs or something and -puff- Pakkun sat in front of us.

"Yo," he said, holding up a paw in greetings. Turning to his summoning partner, the pug continued: "We just finished all preparations and are ready, boss."  
The eye-smile appeared once again.

"Great, I am explaining the exercise now so you can go and tell everyone to start." With a nod the pug went off to the direction of the residential community. The clapping of hands allowed our sensei to redirect our attention back to himself.

"Now, as I said, today you will train your stealth and tracking skills. My ninken all carry one object and your task is to track them down and get those items. Ninken have a good sense of smell, but you might know this from the Inuzuka boy on Team eight, so be smart about it. At the end you all need two items and you have time until 2pm. Oh, yeah, all objects have the same smell. Good luck."

With a puff of smoke our sensei was gone and we all stared at it until the last bit was carried away by the wind.

"So… Kakashi-sensei was actually early, told us what the goal of the exercise is and is gone to who-knows-where until 2pm." Sakura summarised the last couple of minutes.

"Presumably 2 pm," the runt dignified the statement with his own comment.

"Without explaining anything about stealth or tracking," Naruto added. I cocked my head to the side and continued staring at the now empty spot of dirt.  
"HHuh."

"You guys wanna team up?" the blonde asked a fairly unnecessary question and we all nodded at the same time. We came up with a strategy to find the ninken and take the items from them. Coming up with a strategy might be a whitewashed summary of bickering with a purpose:

Sakura: "How do we find the dogs?"  
Runt: "We track them."  
Naruto: "Duh. Another great idea, teme?"  
Runt: "Hn, better than your idea to get a dog whistle."  
Sakura: "Naruto, don't be rude!"  
Myself: "You forgot to remind the runt to not state obvious, useless stuff."  
Sakura: "You- let's just focus on the task."  
Naruto: "How do we track them?"  
Myself: "I can try to find their scents. I should be able to identify at least Pakkun."  
Runt: "Why didn't you say that at first?"  
Myself: "I had to remind pinky of the stupidity of your answer."  
Runt: "Hn."  
Sakura: "Sigh. Let's just concentrate on the task."  
Naruto: "What do we do about them smelling us?"  
Runt: "Tha- hey, that's actually a good question."  
Naruto: "Of course, it is. I am the best ninja and future Hokage."  
Sakura: "Not now, Naruto."  
Myself: "Hey, an alliteration!"  
Naruto: "A what?"  
Runt: "… let's just find Pakkun first and then get the fox to either find the dogs or objects."  
Myself: "We should find them that way, Pakkun's smell leads to the residential community."  
Sakura: "We saw him run there. Five minutes ago."  
Myself (groaning): "I talk about the _other_ dogs. Unless you all suffered a temporary blindness, of course you saw the pug go there."  
Naruto: "We should keep track of the wind to not carry our scent to them."  
Sakura: "Oh, wow- you have good ideas today, Naruto-kun."  
Runt: "Hn."

We took off and followed Pakkun's scent first, which became a problem, because Sakura's hair smelled very similarly of… strawberries? It took us over an hour of a wild goose chase until we saw one of the ninken, Uhei. We all came to the silent conclusion that the dogs took pity on us and Uhei played the role of the oblivious target for a couple of seconds.  
This gave me the chance to get his scent and with our more or less poor stealth skills and fifteen Naruto clones we actually managed to grab the dog and first item.

It was a big piece of cotton and Uhei gave a sigh of relief when it was taken from him. The reason was clear to me as soon as I took a sniff.

"That's just disgusting!" I shrieked and gagged loudly. Uhei had the decency to give me a look of pity before taking off.

"Why? What is wrong, Tenko?" Naruto petted my back with a frown.

"This thing reeks of snake!"

"Huh?" "What?" "Snake?" My team gave me a sign to elaborate.

"I don't know what this is, but it smells the way I imagine a snake to feel like. The scent is cold, oily, like old gras and evil. And it smells like stale water." The runt gave me an unimpressed glance.

"How can a scent be cold and evil?" Sakura asked and I shrugged my shoulders.

"Don't know, but this just does. A disgusting, cold-as-the-dead snake, I tell you."

"Very educational," Uchiha said dryly, but the creepy grin-smirk-spasm could be an indicator for a humorous comment. I decided to categorize it under 'Things I don't want to see again or think about'.

We followed the unbelievably discomforting scent and got three items from Bisuke (Pinky's handkerchief), Shiba (one of Naruto's socks) and Akino (Uchiha's spare pants). When we found Buru with my blue leash, the gigantic dog just sat on it and we were busy trying, without success, to push the ninken off, when Kakashi reappeared and announced that our time was up.

"I see, you only found four of the eight items. Maa, better than three." "Uh-" "How do you guys think you did?" We were rewarded with another eye-smile. There was a short silence.

"We need to work on our stealth," the runt provided.

"In retro perspective, I think we just followed Tenko-chan blindly and focused too much on the scent. We might have ignored visual signs and tracks… And didn't think about any patterns." Sakura said with her chin propped in one hand. Smart head under the pink fluff.

"Oi, sensei. What the actual heck did you rub those things in?" I frowned in disgust when a gust of wind carried the scent and assaulted my nose again. I shivered, but after hours of sniffing the shitty snake scent, my tolerance grew by approximately 0.1%.

"Oh, just some old seaweed and other stuff I found at the river. You liked it?" Kakashi had the audacity to smile again. The Genin next to me made gagging sounds now. Yes, that's what I felt like for hours!

"You smeared our possessions in disgusting snake-like shit and made me smell it all morning long. That's just a new level of sadism! You belong to prison." Kakashi gave me a pat on the head and with the sign of his hand all ninken gathered with the last four items and Buru t up from my leash.

"How did you manage to get my leggings out of my drawer, sensei?" Sakura took the piece of clothing with the tips of her fingers.

"Those shoes were in my room with all the traps activated." Uchiha-brat mumbled in his usual grumpy mood.

"I want you to buy me a new shirt, Kakashi-sensei. No way that I wear it again. And Tenko can't stand the smell!" My sweet Uzumaki protested and I took another look at the shirt. The thing was more of a rag, but the blonde never had the variety to shop for clothes so he wore everything as long as it was holding on his body. The cruel, sad reality.

"Maa, I'll just go shopping with you today, Naruto-kun. You need more than one new shirt anyway."  
'_Waaaiiit a god damn minute_!' I went over to the first piece of cotton we got from Uhei and after inspecting it I recognized what it was meant to be. Naruto's old bedding.

I gave the Jonin a suspicious glare, weighting the possibility of today's exercise having the purpose to get Naruto new clothes and stuff. The boy clearly deserved more care! Why couldn't Kakashi show his affection a bit more openly? Oh, right, he was _the_ Hatake Kakashi. Emotionally cripled extraordinaire.

"But sensei, you said you didn't have time for us. That's why you nearly arrived on time." The girl somehow made her statement sound like an insult.  
I had to admit, Sakura had her good moments and after Kakashi told me to pull the stick out of my ass and give Team 7 a chance, I noticed that even the runt somehow changed since graduation. Uchiha-brat had tried to make an attempt to joke today.  
Damn it, why did the man have to be right?

"Since I had some time until 2pm, I was on time for today's meeting and we finished a few minutes ago. This gives us some time now, Naruto." The blonde actually beamed at the Jonin for taking him on a shopping trip.  
"Tenko-chan, your sensei expects you in two hours at the usual place. Until then you are free to do what you want."

"Come shopping with us!" Naruto pulled me into his arms and gave me a good squeeze.

"Uch, Naruto- Air, air!" He lessened the pressure on my lungs. "Sorry, buddy. I'll go and take a nap, need to be well rested for practice. God, I hate this so much. Just give a lazy ass some rest!" Complaining to nobody in particular, I wiggled myself out of Naruto's hold and just went over to the next tree and curled into myself.  
I was not made for so much training and exercise.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The man landed on the training ground and took a quick look at his surroundings, before he found the fox in the exact spot Hokage-sama had shown him in his crystal ball.  
The summon was sleeping peacefully in the shadow of the tree she had picked for a nap and didn't seem concerned about anything. Seriously, did she not have any awareness for the situation she was in?

The ANBU hidden in another tree might be skilled, but sleeping in the open could be described as recklessness. '_The most unpredictable ninja's summon indeed_.' Nara Shikaku didn't bother to fight the light grin on his lips at the thought.  
Walking over the clearing and not making any sounds, he was surprised, when the fox suddenly raised her head and stared at him while cocking her head. '_Maybe not as unaware as everybody expected her to be_.'

"It isn't polite to sneak up on a sleeping person, you know?" Her voice was a bit drowsy from her nap, but it wasn't as grumpy as Shikamaru would sound after waking up.  
Keeping his hands in his pockets, Shikaku shrugged and allowed the summon's inspection.

"It is too troublesome to sneak up on a summon. Hokage-sama asks for your presence."

"And you were ordered to fetch me? A Nara?" The fox gave him a pointed look, maybe knowing about the laziness of his clan and overall dislike of trouble. Which this clearly was.

The clan head gave a humourless snort. "Sadly, you are a special case, so I had to come."

When Sarutobi-sama had given him the mission report from Team 7's A-rank mission and notes about the strange case the fox summon was, it was clear as night to the Nara head that only a limited choice of people could be concerned with the matter at hand.

The animal in front of him had stated Root would have followed her next to ANBU, which complicated everything in an exponential amount.  
Danzo had been ordered to disperse his unit years ago and just the possibility of the old council member secretly continuing was more troublesome than Shikaku would want anything to be.  
He knew about Danzo's opinion to turn Naruto into a weapon, yes, but the Sandaime made it clear that the boy would grow up like any child should do. Well, apart from the village's hate for being the jinchuriki of the nine tailed beast.

When the summon entered the picture and took her place next to Naruto, concern in most people rose. The Kyuubi's container could always be seen with another fox wherever he went and mostly the civilians feared for another attack, even though Hokage-sama made clear she was 'just' a normal summon. Shikaku could live with that.

But two weeks ago, when the Nara was doing his job, he was ordered to see Sarutobi-sama. Instead of his office, Shikaku was told to go to the small meeting room, where every privacy seal was activated as soon as he entered the room.  
The news about the summon needing the Kyuubi's chakra was nothing he expected and neither were the news about her disappearance. Nobody knew where she was or what her goal was, but the Sandaime went suspiciously quiet, when sone knocked on the door and Danzo was allowed into the room.

The old man basically trash-talked about the fox and how the Hokage should have let him deal with this matter for the village's protection and whatsoever. When Shikaku asked how exactly the man knew about the lack of fox summon in the village, he just said something about news travelling fast in the council.

Yesterday at noon an ANBU had visited Shikaku to deliver a scroll while he was playing shogi with his son. He was informed about the return of a certain trouble on four legs and what happened to Team 7 and the summon on the mission. The information about the animal's deal with the Kyuubi to stay alive and Danzo's Root members were just the cherry on top.

The fox summon in front of him basically was a troublesome nightmare on four legs. How could so many problems come up with just one animal?

"Sandaime-sama is waiting for you." He nodded his head towards the direction he came from to get the fox moving. She slowly stood up and stretched her legs for a minute before she openly yawned and trotted after him.

"So you guys came up with a punishment for my stupidity?"

"Something like that." The fox eyed him from the corner of her eyes.

"You are not allowed to talk about it in public, huh?"

"Maybe." The sudden sound of sniffing had Shikaku look down at the summon.

"You smell like Shikamaru, just less like grass and... older." The clan head gave her a less than impressed glance.

"Troublesome." The fox laughed out in a surprisingly good mood.

"Troublesome indeed."

After ten minutes over the roofs they entered the Hokage's office, where Sarutobi-sama, Inoichi, Morino Ibiki, Genma and, huh, an ANBU with a cat mask.  
The fox seemed to know him, because her eyes lit up and a smile spread on her face, which seriously looked strange. It reminded him of Tsume and that was just wrong.  
The moment the ANBU turned his head to her, the smile faltered and the animal just stared at his feet.

"Are we interrupting a meeting or did you wait for us? ...All of you know about my circumstances? God, Kyuubi is going to rip me a new one." A short pause. "I knew today was a bad day. Kakashi-sensei was actually on time." The second part was more of a mumble to herself, but everybody could hear her good enough, making Genma grin.

"Now that most people are here, we have to discuss what you told me about yesterday and how we will deal with everything." Sarutobi started and just when he activated his privacy seals, Kakashi appeared in a gust of wind and leaves.

"Yo," he said with his usual eye-smile and a raised hand.

"Sensei, weren't you supposed to go shopping with Naruto?" The fox had a harsh tone in her voice like Yoshino just before she lectured Shikaku's ass into doing chores. The Nara cringed at the comparison.

"Hello, my cute little teammate. I told Naruto-kun that I had to get to work, but I left a clone with him. Everything is taken care of." The fox frowned at the man.

"Seriously, what is wrong with today? You were on time for actually useful training, called us 'cute little Genin', went out of your way to help Naruto out and the boy had really smart ideas for practice. Will the heaven fall down on us next? Did one of you find out about any hidden talents I have to become an overpowered summon?"

"No, you still are useless at the moment, Tenko-chan." Kakashi destroyed the animal verbally and gave his eye-smile. Shikaku gave Inoichi a look and his blonde friend seemed to be thinking the same. The Copy-nin was brutal.  
Hokage-sama cleared his throat, opening the meeting.

"Inuzuka Tsume and Hyuga Hiashi cannot be with us today, but I will inform them when they are back from their mission. I already gave you all the information about our new… problem, so you had some time to think reflect on all the facts. Genma, you followed Danzo for the last two weeks. Please share your observations."

The man with the senbon in his mouth nodded and started talking.  
"Hokage-sama noticed the strange speed of knowledge Danzo… -sama… has about everything happening in the village. Especially about the more sensible events. He keeps up a good act to be an old, retired shinobi, but he visits some places more often than it would be normal. One of them is the old blacksmith behind ANBU quarters and he always came out after hours.  
Three days ago I had the opportunity to investigate the store and I found a hidden tunnel deep under ANBU HQ. I wasn't able to get a hold on any physical evidence yet, but I saw him order shinobi and kunoichi around like he owned the place."  
How he didn't stab himself while talking was a mystery to the Nara head and he did not want to test it himself.

The fox suddenly perked up. "Did you know the Root members stink the same way Danzo does? Like old people's basements! Did it smell like that? Because those assholes still follow me and their foul smell assaults my nose more often than not. For tracking purposes, I mean." There was silence.

Then Shikaku processed what the fox just said and smirked down at her, while Kakashi actually let out a snort, the ANBU shook his head and held a hand against his mask where his forehead was. Hokage-sama coughed smoke out, Ibiki gave the fox a questionable look and Inoichi mumbled: "She would fit in with the Inuzuka."  
The problem wasn't less severe, but the summon's comment helped to lessen the tense mood for a moment.

"How do you know the way old people's basements smell, Tenko-chan?" Kakashi humoured her statement. She lowered her eyes at the man and huffed out.

"I will not grand an answer to your question, sensei. I guess, we are here to talk about Danzo and all the shit I am in, not the way some group stinks. And the man is bad, I assure you. He smells a bit like the seaweed."

Shikaku's temporary amusement ended there and was replaced by confusion.  
"Seaweed?" How did seaweed fit in with Danzo?

"Ah. We practiced tracking and stealth to find items Kakashi-sensei rubbed into old seaweed and other questionable stuff. Somehow it mixed up to smell cold and evil. Danzo has an edge of that around him. I don't want to imagine what his home smells like." The animal actually shivered and gagged at the thought.

To anybody not watching every move the fox made, she'd come over as silly, but once in a while her eyes darted to the windows before she made her strange acts and strongly showed emotions. Was she keeping track of the Root members she mentioned following her?  
The privacy seals prevented anyone outside from spying, but truth to be told, having clan members, high ranking shinobi and the head of T and I in the Hokage's office was more than just a bit suspicious.  
Was the fox trying to pull any viewers' attention to herself?

"When did the seriousness and professionalism of our profession vanish? We have a serious problem at hands!" Ibiki voiced his opinion, pointed at the summon and with that both characteristics reappeared.

Kakashi pulled out his famous orange book, held it in front of his lower face and leaned against the doorframe in a nonchalant matter. Not that anybody would be able to read his lips. When he started speaking, everybody had to turn away from the windows to look at him. This made observations from outside just more complicated than it would already be.

"Ibiki-san is right, we have to act more serious. After all, we are here to discuss Tenko-chan's punishment, ne?" The Jonin gave the animal his typical eye-smile and the fox flopped to the ground with a mumble, tapping her tails against the floor.

"Like Danzo expects me to act serious. I am just a stupid summon with some of the Kyuubi's chakra and the most unpredictable ninja as my roommate. The Root member outside should have seen me goof around more than enough times by now."  
She grumbled loud enough for everybody to understand her words and then looked up at the Hokage.  
"I am sure Kakashi-sensei told you about my latest 'training session' with Sakura. I didn't plan for it, but I am sure, the old geezer got his minions to tell him about my mediocre performance. My skills and talents for a ninja life might be as poor as Naruto life had been until he actually found some friends, but I am still some type of threat to him."

The room was quiet once again.

'_Ouch'_, Shikaku thought. '_That's how you give a blow to once conscience_.'  
The Nara head was one of the few people to not hold a false grudge to the Kyuubi's container, but he was part of the people to not stand up for the kid when everybody whispered and glared at him. His position in his clan sadly forbid it, making him even happier when he found out about his son's acceptance of the blonde boy.

Inoichi cleared his throat and eyed Sarutobi-sama for a moment. Said man puffed his pipe and breathed out the smoke, clearly taking a few seconds for himself.  
"We will use the next week to gather more intel and formulate a plan concerning Danzo and Root. I want this to be finished before the Chunin exam starts. No need to endanger more bystanders.  
Tenko, from this evening on you are going to stay with the Inuzuka clan for the next three weeks. In the morning you will have team practice with Team 7 and your Tenzo-sensei is going to join you. Our taijutsu specialist will train with you until evening and then Inuzuka Tsume and her daughter Hana will teach you more about tracking."

Genma lost control over his jaw and his mouth opened, senbon stubbornly hanging on to his lip.  
"_That's_ her punishment? Man, I am so going to do stupid shit then."  
The comment made Kakashi put his porn away and he went over to the fox, kneeling right in front of her.

"Maa, to our lazy, nap-loving and exercise-hating Tenko-chan this is the worst we could to without actually hurting her or giving Danzo any opportunity to take her away. She did act out of concern for her team and we took her connection to Naruto's life into account." He petted the summons head, hard. Clearly not the typical sign of affection.

"She is basically a Nara then," Inoichi said with a straight face but an amused voice. Shikaku had to agree on this part.  
Genma gave the Hokage a strange look and then something similar to pity took over his face.

"But still, you assigned _him_ to her? That's cruel." The fox's ears picked that up and she gave the elite assassin a calculating once over.

"Who is 'him'?" Nobody answered, but then Kakashi was up on his feet and pulled the summon under his arm like a bag of potatoes.

"Just your personal doom, Tenko-chan. Don't worry about it." The eye-smile was all Shikaku could see, but even a curved eye was able to show the sadistic glee the Copy-ninja felt. The fox let out a short whine and tried to wiggle out of the man's grip to no avail.

"Nooo! Hokage-sama, whatever this punishment is, can't you choose something else? Shave my tails or let me catch your D-rank demon-cat. This sounds like serious work and I hate pain! And Naruto will be all alone, too!" Now she was wailing in a theatrical way.  
Shikaku was not sure whether she still acted this way for their secret audience or just genuinely hated physical work.

Sarutobi-sama didn't even hide the spark of amusement from the whole scene in his face.  
"Don't worry about Naruto-kun. I am sure Kakashi-sensei already told him about the upcoming renovations of your apartment and his temporary stay with Iruka-sensei. You will still see each other every day."

"Yes, and Naruto-kun is very happy to stay with his old academy teacher for a couple of weeks. Don't spoil his time, Tenko-chan." Kakashi barely caught the fox at her neck when she slipped from his arm and turned her towards him with practised ease. Then his voice lost the playfulness.  
"We both know you want Naruto to be safe and happy and Iruka-sensei gives him the affection the boy needs. Now suck it up and just accept your punishment like the good summon you are. Even if it is just for show. You even get a renovated apartment out of it."

The fox stopped struggling immediately and gave a single nod.  
"Naruto deserved this many years ago so I won't give anyone credit for it. And the 'punishment' is a good preparation to keep him and Team 7 safe in a fight and for me to be of any use. I am aware of that." She tried to turn her head to Sarutobi in Kakashi's hold. "I earn more than I give with your decision, Hokage-sama and that I am thankful for. I kindly ask to be dismissed. Tenzo-sensei still needs to teach me and I want to see Naruto before tonight."

The sheer bluntness the fox showed towards the Sandaime was enough for Ibiki to build an angry red colour in his face. The man respected Sarutobi and didn't take any sign of rudeness towards his leader too well.  
Before the man could voice his anger, the ANBU Tenko had eyed a few times since entering the office took her out of Kakashi's grip and after Sarutobi-sama deactivated the seals, he left with a light bow.

Shikaku gathered all the information he collected over the last 24 hours and the mental list of work just got longer and longer.  
"Troublesome."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Tenko had expected her Tenzo-sensei to give a lecture, give her the silent treatment or something similar. What she didn't imagine was a "Bad fox, don't do that again" and then a normal chakra control session followed like nothing happened. But this time with pointy object and tree-running.

When Tenzo decided to stop for the day, he decided to escort her home and then to the Inuzuka compound. On their way home the summon asked about his lack of punishment, but when he told her that she had acted according to Kakashi's 'Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum'-rule she recognised the respect Tenzo had for her Team's sensei.

They met Naruto in the apartment when the boy tried to push everything into his bags. Iruka-sensei was helping and everything that was not clothes went into storage scrolls.

"Good evening, Tenko-chan. How are you?" He gave the fox a kind smile and a nice belly rub, calming the summon a bit.

"Yeah, fine. I am happy this dump finally gets some attention and new paint. Please take care of Naruto while I am with Kiba's family."

"Of course. We already put your leash, teddy, shampoo and blanket into the small bag. The box is filled with the chicken and noodle cans you like. And Naruto may or may not have hugged your teddy and stuffed his second-best jacket into the bag in case you miss him."  
Tenko noticed the quiet voice the pre-genin teacher had used to make sure the blonde, running around like a headless chicken, wouldn't catch his words. She grinned up at the man and then went over to her little Uzumaki, tackling him and snuggling into his side.

Arms dressed in orange wrapped themselves around her and Naruto's face disappeared in her fur.  
"Don't be late for practice, okay? And don't let dog-breath cuddle you too much! He has Akamaru."  
Tenko's laughter was muffled by the orange fabric and she pushed herself up to nudge the blonde's jaw with her head.

"The only one allowed to cuddle me into an early grave is you. Don't give Iruka-sensei too much trouble. Only prank him when he buys the strange five-minute-ramen you don't like and eat your vegetables."

Iruka-sensei chuckled at the adorable scene in front of him and the man accompanying the fox summon had a twitch on his lip. A novice would call it a hidden grin, but nobody could ever tell.

The walk to the Inuzuka compound was quiet. Tenzo carried the small bag and box filled with dog food, questioning their properness for a fox summon once again, but then mentally shrugged his shoulders. It was none of his concern.

At the end of the street stood a young, brown haired boy with a small dog on his head and leaned against a tree. When he noticed the fox summon, the typical Inuzuka grin split his face to show his teeth.  
"Yo, Tenko!"  
She gave an equally disturbing, toothy grin and quickened her step.

"Hey, Kiba, Akamaru. It's nice to see you again." The summon caught up to the pair and after Akamaru jumped from the boy's head, the Genin gave her a good rub behind her ears. The white and brown puppy barked in his usual high pitch and pure adoration spread on Tenko's features.

"You seriously are the cutest little thing ever!" Both animals cuddled each other's side after a deep sniff. Tenzo stopped next to the trio and just observed their interaction. The summon was clearly comfortable around them, Kakashi had told his kohai they were classmates. Well, more or less, since the fox didn't really attend the academy until she had heard of Naruto's grades.

"Come on, I'll show you around. Mom just went to give a report about her mission and will be back in the next hour. It's cool to have you around for tracking practice!" Then there was a short pause and Kiba seemed to be thinking about something. "You should know that our clan is known for their roughhousing and mom is… blunt. But she's not stuck up like some of the other clan heads. So don't worry about offending her, just show respect and it's fine."

"I'll remember it. Your sister is at home now? Hokage-sama said she would teach me, too." Tenko offered another chance for the boy to talk and provide more information.

"Nah, she has to work late. One of the ninken got hurt on a messenger mission and needs surgery. Seriously, who in their right mind tries to blow a dog up?!" Kiba spat the last part out and Akamaru yelped once before saying something to his partner in a quiet wail. The brunette gave a wry smile and scratched the ninken's head.

"Yeah, you are right, Akamaru. I'll never let this happen to you!"

"Your sister is a vet?" Tenko asked and then looked up at Tenzo. "Did she treat me when I broke my bone or whatever I did?"  
The man tried to remember the nurses and doctors he saw at the clinic, but he was sure no Inuzuka worked there.  
"You were brought to the civilian's vet, not one for ninken."

"WHAT?! You guys brought her to a _civilian_ vet? Dude, Tenko is a summon, no pet!" Kiba shrieked and pointed at the fox. "I mean, yeah, they can help with broken bones, but what if her chakra system was damaged?!"

Tenko barked out in laughter.  
"Do you really think I was hurt at practice or something? Kiba, I avoided this stuff like the plague, so no damage to my chakra system possible. None. I just fell out of Naruto's bed and hurt myself."

"Oh. Wow. You shouldn't mention that around my clan, Tenko. That's actually embarrassing."

"I'll remember that," the fox said with an amused smile on her face. "It was a stupid accident after all."

.

The first meeting with Tsume was loud. The woman was a force of nature and Tenko wasn't sure if the arrival of the clan head and the departure of Tenzo was a coincidence or not.  
The woman was blunt, her filter between brain and mouth seemingly non-existent and she made the scary promise to get Tenko's tracking 'skills' up to at least a decent level in the next three weeks.

The information about 'him', the taijutsu specialist, whoever he was and would teach her in taijutsu, created the same sadistic glee in Tsume's eyes as it did with Kakashi. The fox grew concerned for her health and overall safety.

The clan head told her son to put the few belongings into his room where their guest would be sleeping, but when the woman saw the dog food, she threw an amused fit.  
Somehow the image of a fox summon eating regular dog food was hilarious to her and she ordered Kiba to start feeding her the stuff Akamaru ate. Any protest was ignored.

The night was alright for Tenko. She shared the bed with Kiba and his adorable ninken, but the lack of Naruto and his scent disturbed her sleep.  
When the blonde went off to their presumable C-rank mission, she slept alone as well, but the whole apartment still smelled familiar after Naruto. Now she could smell Kiba, Akamaru and many other people and ninken living there.

Before dawn Tenko had trouble falling asleep again and went to her small bag where her teddy's head peaked out. Kiba was nice enough to not laugh at the fox for bringing the plushie or make jokes about it and now she was sure to need her loyal companion.

Biting the teddy's throat, Tenko pulled him out of the bag and silently climbed back onto the bed to curl herself around the bear.  
The familiar scent in her nose helped the fox imagine being back in Naruto's apartment and she tried to push herself tighter around the piece from home.

In the morning Kiba needed a moment to figure out why a red bundle of fur laid at the end of his bed and when he was about to wake the fox, he noticed the teddy. His ears peaked out from between the fluffy tails and Tenko's snout was pressed into the fabric.  
Akamaru plodded into Kiba's lap and used the few extra minutes to cuddle into his partner before another day officially started.

The door was carefully pushed open and Hana stuck her head through the gap, giving her brother a soft smile before quickly studying their guest.  
The young woman silently came near and took in the mess of fur and teddy, before her posture relaxed a bit more.  
"So this is Tenko-chan? I really expected the famous fox summon to be less-" Hana whispered and tried to find the best word to describe what she saw.

"Cute? Adorable? Lovable?" Kiba quietly provided some examples Tenko had used for Akamaru.

"Those too, but I guess – Homesick."  
This made her little brother look up in surprise and Hana quickly explained: "Not everybody sees summons as equal partners like we do, Kiba. And I didn't expect a fox to feel just as strongly as our dogs would. You really learn something new every day."

The fur ball moved and two tails with white tips untangled themselves from the teddy. Rubbing a paw over her eyes, Tenko woke up and took a moment to orientate herself in the room.

"… oh." She said and then looked up at the Inuzuka siblings. "Good morning. I am Tenko."

.

If Tenko had to describe the next three weeks one possible word would be torture.

Every morning the fox got dragged into the garden by Kiba and had to do some stretches and a light morning jog with ninja and ninken. Getting out of it was not possible, because Tsume watched over them like a hawk and every time Tenko slaked off for longer than a second, she had to do some drills fit for an animal on four legs.

The team practices were the best part for Tenko, because she was able to spend time with her blonde Uzumaki.  
The night time-homesickness never really went away so every time the fox saw her team, glee filled her heart and she would run up to Team 7 plus Tenzo-sensei and cuddle all five of them. Even the runt got his fair share of forced affection.  
Tenzo would help the summon with her chakra control for the first two hours until Kakashi decided to show up. Then the Genin would spar, practise jutsus or throw weapon. The latter became the new main practice for Tenko to control chakra while she got bombarded with pointy weapons.

Being very happy to see Naruto and Team 7 after another night in the Inuzuka compound, Tenko stopped provoking Sakura and Sasuke into bickering and started to be nice to them. Well, the nicest she could manage to be.  
The affection the summon visibly needed from Naruto made the pink haired girl coo over the fox from time to time.  
Sakura openly showed her happiness about the recent developments in their team dynamics and got better at not snapping at or hitting Naruto.

What nobody expected was a more relaxed Uchiha. It was in the middle of the second week, when Tenko greeted the Team by tackling every member for their cuddles and the runt actually opened his arms before the fox could jump.  
Baffled by the act everybody's jaws dropped and the Uchiha was about to get his indifferent mask back into place, when Tenko jumped into his still open arms and nudged her head against the boy's neck.

"Good morning, duckling." She greeted and Naruto shrieked.

"What is going on? Sasuke-teme, are you sick?"  
Sasuke looked up at the boy with another of his well-pronounced 'hn's and then looked at the fox in his arms.

"Duckling, really?" The fox gave a toothy grin.  
"You got a promotion from runt to duckling. Congrats!" She then gave the boy a serious look. "Are you alright? You never initiate a hug. Something happened?"

The familiar grumpy expression came back into the boy's face. "You would have tackled me either way. I just prepared myself to not stumble."

From this moment on Tenko took the liberty to hug-tackle the Uchiha as much as possible. He still stopped her many times or broke the contact after a few seconds, but the boy allowed it nonetheless.  
Tenko blamed her homesickness.

.

The next part of Tenko's day would always start on another training ground with the dramatic entrance of too much green. And spandex. And legwarmers. And a bowl cut. And shining teeth. And enough Youthfulness for the whole village. Everything suppressed into one single being.

The first time the fox nearly suffered from cardiac arrest.  
The man just appeared in front of her and shouted something about a blossom and flames or fire and many poetically fancy words. The shining of the man's teeth were blinding the fox's eyes and she could clearly see the swirl on the thumb of the man when he fell into a pose.  
The appearing sunset made Tenko whisper a desperate 'Kai', but nothing of this circus act disappeared.

This was all Maito Gai, the taijutsu specialist and - what was it? Green? Blue? Youthful?- Beast of Prey.  
The fox summon had seen him a couple of times in her ghost form when she tagged along Kakashi, but nobody referred to him as the taijutsu specialist when she heard people talk about the man.

For all the kindness and, cough, youthfulness, the man was a slave driver. Had she ever described Tenzo as such? Well, she was wrong. Gai took the crown!

His ridiculous expectations he called 'warm-up' were enough to make the fox eat dirt and ask for an oxygen tent.  
The actual sparring made her question every single resolve she ever had about becoming a better fighter to protect Naruto.

Gai basically would beat her up every day until she managed to dodge enough to not _limp_ to Hana for treatment. She still needed the woman to help her with the bruises and pain. Kyuubi's chakra in her body was clearly not able to keep up with the insane human fist Gai embodied.

This was also the reason Tenko was a bit of a chakra-leech every morning. She didn't need much and every two to three days would be enough, but it gave Tenko a reason to cuddle Naruto more, complain about her harsh training and not feel too weak after Gai's training sessions.

At the end of the third week Tenzo-sensei was kind enough to stay for Tenko's taijutsu training and observe her progress against the master. The fox was nowhere near getting more than two hits on the green man, but she was also able to finally dodge most of his attacks for twenty minutes straight.  
Then her stamina would start to run out and the beating would start again.  
At least, Kakashi's rival was kind enough to pull the critical punches and kicks.

.

The last training unit was tracking with Tsume and Hana after some healing. Compared to Gai, the women were soft with her, but Tenko didn't dare to say it out loud, too afraid of a harsher treatment.  
Tenko had to practice tracking with only her sense of smell, hearing or sight while jutsus numbed her other senses.

Tsume found out that the fox's best developed sense was the one of sight. Then came smell and hearing. The woman let the summon search for the smallest objects all over the compound and was pleased when her eyes worked just as good in the night as it did in the daylight.

With the permission of the Hokage and supervision by Tenzo the clan head taught the summon to enhance her senses with chakra.  
The first time was a flop and the fox had ruptured eardrums when one of the clan guards outside sneezed. Hana was kind enough to heal most of the damage and the demon's chakra did the rest.

With the chakra enhancement Tenko was able to keep up with most of the ninkens' noses when she could hold the control over the chakra. Her sense of hearing was passable at best for an Inuzuka, but good enough for a normal summon.  
Even without chakra, Tenko's eyes were her best trait and Tsume was impressed enough to give the fox one pat on the head without her usual strength.

.

After three weeks of sore muscles, healed bruises and too much work, Tenko was now able to track fairly well up to low Jonin level and dodge most weapons and opponents' fists when her training partner was no too-energetic Maito Gai. Or Kakashi. Or Tsume. Or Tenzo. But one time Naruto managed to talk Iruka-sensei into sparing with her and she only got hit twice.  
Apart from scratching and biting, Tenko couldn't really attack.

Her chakra control finally was good enough to walk up trees without having weapons thrown at her, but it was still too unstable to succeed at any jutsu Kakashi's pack or the Inuzuka siblings showed her. Every time Tenko tried to gather a bigger amount of chakra and use it, something threw her off balance and the fox failed.

Disappointment didn't even come near to the emotional turmoil Tenko felt every time. She did everything the exact way her senseis told her to and they even had Kiba's teammate Hinata check on her with the Byakugan.  
Sweet, shy Hinata stuttered about some sort of interruption in the fox's chakra flow just before she tried to do a jutsu and no matter the elemental nature, no technique worked.

The sad part was the lack of knowledge about Tenko's problem.  
Tsume somehow bullied and bothered Hyuga Hiashi into using his Byakugan to find the problem of her temporary ward's chakra flow, but the man couldn't find the source either.

.

The day Naruto and Tenko moved back into their apartment, both were sure they walked into the wrong building.  
The right wall from the one-room apartment was taken down and the space was doubled. The bathroom was still the same, but all furniture was new, and the old towels were exchanged as well. The additional space was rebuilt into one big bedroom and a smaller guest room (both with a new bed), giving the old room enough space for an actual kitchen and a nice couch.

Naruto zoomed through the apartment in excitement, commenting on everything he saw to Iruka-sensei and Tenko.  
The academy teacher admitted being the one to have chosen most of the new furniture, rewarding him with a crushing full body embrace from Naruto and a bit of cuddling by Tenko. Naruto even declared his everlasting, brotherly love for the man.

In Tenko's opinion Sarutobi redeemed himself for some part. It would never be able to compensate the emotional neglect, but now the blonde boy actually lived in an acceptable apartment.  
The trio celebrated with ramen and Tsume's recipe for 'some damn decent summon's food'.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.

A couple of days later I was able to say my life was back to normal. As normal as it could get for me, at least.  
I had my typical practice with Team 7 and Tenzo as a substitution sensei for all four of us, where Kakashi arrived two to three hours late. My group greeting by cuddling stayed the same and the duckling always caught me with no fail. I kept tackling him to share some affection between spars and the boy always gave me a minimum of pets on the head.

Now the both of us had a short break while Sakura fought Kakashi-sensei and Naruto was up against Tenzo-sensei, which he was uncomfortable with.  
One month ago, the blonde had laughed at my comment about Tenzo-sensei's creepy grin-smile-smirk, but the hothead was just as weirded out by it as I was.

I watched the matches, when suddenly a hand started scratching behind my ears. Sasuke still observed his teammates, but I had noticed the short moments when he felt no eyes on him that he actually searched for some physical comfort.  
Without being asked I climbed into the boy's lap and continued watching Naruto.

"What's up, duckling?"

"Hn." It was not the usual arrogant sound, more that of a thinker, so I decided to wait for a reply. "It feels nice."

Allowing myself to look up at the boy, I saw his eyes focussing on the patch of grass in front of us.  
"What is nice?" There was a pause again and Sasuke clearly tried to find the right words.

"To pet you. I mean, that you let me near you… and to be on this team." Dark eyes looked directly into mine and just for a moment I was able to see through the darkness and vengeance at all the pain and loneliness the kid must be feeling under his mask.  
It was just like the expression on Naruto's face when I first met him. The lost boy, who was starved on love and needed someone to support him.  
This moment was enough for my pettiness against the boy to crumble a bit more and my tendency to be a small mother hen for a certain blonde Uzumaki to awaken and I pressed my snout into the boy's hair, snuggling into a sudden embrace.

"Oh, sweetheart. You are always welcome to do that." The arms around me tightened for a moment longer before the duckling let go and sat me back next to him. The mask back in place, Sasuke continued to watch our teammates, but I was satisfied with that.  
The boy might have been a runt when it came to emotional capacities and dealing with other people, but there was a development in progress. Every member of Team 7 had changed for the better, in my humble opinion.

Let's just say, after that my luck ran out quicker than past Sakura's self-control when seeing the Uchiha-brat.

Kakashi-sensei had the glorious idea for another tracking exercise, so I complained before he finished his sentence.  
"Don't you dare use your disgusting snake scent again!" Tenzo-sensei visibly cringed when I mentioned the animal. Another snake-hater perhaps? I wouldn't hold it against him.

"No, today, my cute little Genin, you will catch three specific cats with marked collars. You guys will need Tenko's nose to find the cats and then check them for the numbers 1 to 3 which I wrote on the collars."

"Cats. Cats! Sensei, why do you hate me so much?! The fucking flying ramen king possessed you? What will it be next? Snakes tied around those furry beasts?!" My team looked at me as if I just lost it, which I might have.

"Tenko, your favourite ANBU has a cat mask. Why doesn't that bother you?" Naruto asked hesitantly and I gave him my 'are you really asking me that' expression.

"ANBU-Neko is a human and he is great! No damn feline, h-u-m-a-n!"

Everybody decided to ignore my exaggerated reaction and for the next three hours I was sniffing out furry monsters. At least the kids got the scratches, since my only possibility to catch them was by bite aka teeth and my team didn't want to risk it.  
Kakashi-sensei got the silent treatment afterwards and my awesome team cuddled me against the stress. The duckling hugged me 0.5 seconds longer than usual.

.

Our team had just agreed to meet up with Team 8 and 10 in an hour for dinner, when Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke and leaves to give his usual 'Yo' and then grab me before disappearing.

Feeling dizzy and nauseous from the stupid flicker method, I dry heaved and pressed out: "Never. Do that. Again."  
The barking laughter from a by now familiar voice made me notice my surroundings. I was back in the Hokage's office, the privacy seals were activated and Tsume found delight in my misery.  
Everybody from our meeting nearly a month ago was present, including the Inuzuka's and Hyuga's clan head.

"Uch, great to see you are entertained, Tsume-san." I gagged a bit more and Kakashi shifted his hands around me, now cradling my body to not put pressure on my middle.

"Me too, kit. Remind me to try that next time we see each other." I groaned.

"Then I will avoid you to the best of my abilities." A strong, heavy hand started petting my head and I looked up to see Nara Shikaku grin down at me.

"You will survive it." Compared to last time, the man looked like the living dead, tired enough to sleep for the next year and his skin had a lightly grey tone.

"What happened to you? You look like shit, Nara-san." Yep, my brain to mouth filter was working just fine. I gave myself a mental facepalm.

"Tsk, it seems nobody bothered to teach you manners, fox. Not surprising considering your host and their… wild behaviour." Hyuga Hiashi gave his two cents and not one second later Tsume was up in his face.

"What was that, you stick in the mud? Nobody's interested in your opinion, so shove it elsewhere." Sarutobi saw the necessity to clear his throat.  
'_Like day-care with the Hokage as their educator_.' I had to stifle a giggle.

"Tenko, you might be aware of the fact that we didn't inform you of our investigations over the past weeks." The old man gave me a short pause to think about his words.

"Oh, yeah. Now that you mention it, for the past few days I couldn't smell Root around me. Did you stop Danzo?" I beamed at the man. Oh, he was my hero! No Danzo, no life-threatening cyclops!

"You can certainly describe it as such. We were able to find Root's training ground and many plans and information in code. Shikaku-san is working on the decrypting of the files with Ibiki-san and Inoichi-san, but they were using different codes for every new file. It will take some time to get all the information.

"We found a few files with your name in them and are working on the latest entries. One of the few words we were able to decipher by now was 'Chunin Exam' and we are guessing that Root planned to get to you while everybody was focused on the final exam."  
I held eye contact with the old man for some time. Then I took a look at everyone in the room.

"So, what you are telling me is I will be safe from Danzo and his underlings? That's why you all are here?" I hoped everyone was able to hear my scepticism. Kakashi would have been enough to inform me of this. Said man gave me an eye-smile before he spoke.

"Not quite, Tenko-chan. We managed to decipher one complete page by now and we have some… ideas what he might have planned to do with you."

"You mean apart from killing me?" The harsh jab with a finger to my ribs was a clear enough sign that Kakashi didn't want my dumb questions right now.

"We found notes about one of Orochimaru's old projects next to theories about chakra transfer. Do you know who Orochimaru is?"  
Not wanting another jab, I took a moment to think. Back when I was in my flowy ghost form I heard bits of conversations and a history lesson actually was about the three Sanin. The interesting stuff came from an T and I member when I followed him for a day.

"He was Hokage-sama's student, one of the three Sanin and a scientist. Some people say he is as brilliant as he is mad. I guess that's why he is a missing-nin now."

The Nara clan head made a gruffy noise, sounding similar to the famous 'troublesome', but then petted my head again before talking.  
"You could call in that. The page mentioned old notes about resurrection and from the information I could gather, Danzo planned to test it because of your circumstances concerning your chakra. We guess that your chakra transfer with Naruto-kun, or the nine-tails, made him interested in the possibility of a soul transfer. One note about some scientific stuff came from a letter Danzo got last month. It was written by Orochimaru."

This was the moment my brain decided to shut down because of an overload.  
I stared at the Nara in front of me and everything my body could do was breath while my mind was running in a circle.  
'_They planned to kill me for a sick experiment. Danzo knew about the chakra transfer and had something planned. They wanted to kill me for a science project. Orochimaru wrote him a letter. The old man planned to do a soul transfer. Danzo was working with a missing-nin. Why can't I have a fucking break from this shit?! A missing-nin scientist knows about me_.'

The sudden sting of my head brought me out of my thoughts and I had to blink a few times to focus. Tsume was near me now and looked smug.  
"Ya'll see? A bit violence never hurt anyone."

"I am not sure about the correctness of your statement, Tsume-san." Inoichi said with a bead of sweat on his forehead.

"Tenko, I am sorry about the bluntness to tell you all of this, but you had to know. We were able to get the Root members, but Danzo used a suicide jutsu, before we were able to stop him. His death is an S-rank secret and we simply spread the rumour about Danzo being bedridden from an illness as an excuse for his lack of presence.

"We cannot be completely certain until we deciphered all the files, but we don't think Orochimaru will dare and appear in Konoha for the Chunin exam. At least not without Root's support. We started to make preparations just in case, but you should be safe now." Sarutobi ended his short monologue and I took a deep breath to sort my emotions out.

My mind was still thrown into utter chaos, but at least my emotional stare was something I could manage right now. But I needed reassurance for that.  
"So I am safe?"

Shikaku nodded.  
"We think so, yes. Just to be safe, Hokage-sama asked for Jiraja-sama to come back to Konoha. He was another student of the Sandaime and will arrive in the next few days." I went slack in Kakashi's arms and let out a loud sigh of relief. The Jonin propped me up and gave me his usual eye-smile.

"Maa, that's good news, Tenko-chan. I actually planned to nominate you guys for the Chunin exam." '_Well, surprise!_'


	15. Chapter 15

Hiruzen dismissed everybody after the clan heads gave him the last updates on a higher security level the summon didn't have to hear about. Most were about the training facilities, two decrypted plans about the silence-seals, and the Root members they were able to get into T&I for a re-socialization program.

But the most concerning information the Nara clan head shared were about the second half of Orochimaru's letter to Danzo. The first half mentioned the idea of an old project resulting in Danzo's sudden interest in Tenko and soul transfer. The second part of the letter explained that the snake Sannin basically tried to play god and to finish the resurrection jutsu. To bring back the dead could never be a good plan, since what is dead should stay that way.

The man faced some issues with the connection of dead souls and bodies at the written date of the letter and planned to circumvent the body-revival for his first experiments by forcing a living soul from one body into another. He had seventy-eight 'experiments' and all of them died before, during or shortly after Orochimaru went ahead and tested his jutsu. None of the souls reached the targeted bodies. Biological relations and shared DNA-traits between them didn't prevent death.

Orochimaru even mentioned the closest try to succeeding, maybe in hope of working together with Danzo. The experiment who had lived the longest fought the jutsu with spiritual chakra to anker their soul. The continuous push and pull of chakra and the soul resulted in all chakra coils being combusted by who known what and then the soul finally left the body, but the experiment died as well.  
The Sanin planned to change the jutsu to a more spiritual chakra based approach.

To say Hiruzen was troubled after hearing the news would be an understatement. The thought of forcing souls out of living beings made the old man feel sadness, disgust and a shiver went down his back. Naturally, none of this was visibly shown to the clan heads.

Tenko (and thereby Kakashi) had to leave before this. The Sandaime had no interest in informing the fox about more than she already knew, which was too much for his liking already, but Tsume of all people had provided the logical argument about Tenko's right to know why she has been a target.  
The old man was pretty sure the clan's head said it only because she had spent time with the summon and ended up not disliking her. The woman had trained her in tracking, which was an important part for every pup's growth in the Inuzuka clan, mission or not.

The oldest Sarutobi rubbed his face with the palms of his hands and allowed himself to let out a loud and long sigh. Every time something went wrong, he decided, he was getting too old for it. Danzo was the proof with his misplaced trust in an old friend.

Hiruzen may be old and he may also still believe in the good of mankind, but this did not mean he was a fool.  
Admitted, his personal feelings had clouded his judgment and kept him from making the right decision later than any other leader would have. Sarutobi knew about Root, or more like their existence, and also about Danzo's more hands-on attitude to force chance when the war hawk saw its need. Hiruzen knew the other man more than enough years for a good judge in character, but the traitorous plans and going as far as cooperating with Orochimaru for the Hokage's hat.

Yes, Danzo had always been keen on the position and the council member hadn't made a secret about it. And yes, Danzo wanted Konoha to be strong and a force never to be matched, but in the past decade he managed to push Hiruzen's patience and tolerance to its absolute maximum. All the missions behind the Hokage's back, the interruption in meetings and the lack of understanding about a life's value were just some points.

The newest situation/problem/challenge life had thrown at the Sandaime - being Tenko, all the complications she brought with her and, once again, Danzo's disability to keep his nose out of the Hokage's business - had been the last straw holding Sarutobi from turning Root upside-down.

The old man was sad his friend could never see his vision of the Fill of Will and what the next generation for Konoha truly meant, but somewhere deep inside of him, Hiruzen was relieved Danzo made the – cowardly – decision to kill himself. The command to execute an old comrade wouldn't have happened without a silent internal struggle, but he would have done it, hadn't Danzo taken this decision from him. Hesitation would not be found in the man when Konoha and its children were threatened. And Danzo would have witnessed this the moment Hiruzen had reached him in his Root headquarter.

* * *

"Don't you think the whole affair with Danzo went surprisingly… well?"

"You mean too-good-to-be-true well?" Kakashi asked with a calm voice and looked down at the limp fox tugged under his arm, while walking through the streets of Konoha. Most people had already gone back home so they didn't need to use the roof tops to avoid the villagers' glares – not that those would ever bother Kakashi enough to go out of his way.

"Yeah, Hokage-sama had mentioned that the old creep thought of him as senile and old enough to not notice Root's doings or his scheming, but pulling a suicide jutsu when they were about to turn his organisation upside down? That's kind of hardcore on Danzo's part and it's making me suspicious, too.  
I mean, every time something good happens to me, bad stuff follows for some sick sense of balance. Like getting a physical form but not having my own chakra to live my life. Or getting some control over it and suddenly turning into a human. Now Naruto and I have a newly renovated apartment _and_ Danzo killed himself. Nothing less than the apocalypse can be the equivalent consequence."

The fox cringed at her own statement, making the Jonin chuckle. Tenko clearly was not the perfect fit for the life of a ninja/summon, but she at least had enough paranoia for the job.

"Maa, you sound like Tsunade-hime and her bets." The summon shifted in his arm and looked up at the man.

"Another Sannin, right? What do you mean by bets?"

"Well, Tsunade-hime is known for her insane strength, gambling and… debts. The few times she actually wins, some sort of chaos erupts the world, which is why she always travels. The woman is good at avoiding problems, so to say."

"Hm, I would like to run from my problems, too." Tenko hummed thoughtfully like she didn't just admit to a cowardly personality trait. Then she suddenly frowned. "Say, have you ever noticed the parallels between the Sannin and Team 7?"

"Parallels?"

"Yep, Orochimaru is intelligent but mad, the ducking is a fairly smart kid but has a serious vengeance issue and is still a bit too arrogant, though he's slowly getting better."

"You make him sound like he caught the flu." Tenko ignored the comment for her explanation.

"From what I've known and what you said, Tsunade is a woman known for her temper, strength and bad luck with bets, Sakura has a bad temper – especially when Naruto is too loud for her or the duckling's honour is threatened –, her hits can cause concussions without physical training and I seem to have adopted the bad luck part.  
Sarutobi-sama is Hokage and sometimes too nice with people, Naruto wants to be Hokage and he is the sweetest and kindest kid ever. And then there are you, the guy with old-people-coloured hair who just might be a part-time pervert judging by your books just like Jiraiya. And don't say you only read Icha Icha for the romantic plot. I have read some pages once and there was no. plot. At. All."

Kakashi blinked a few times at the comparison. "I don't have old-people-coloured hair."

"Seriously, _that's_ what you complain about?"

"Sure. And mind you, the plot it the heart and soul of Jiraiya-sama's novels. You just don't get the depth of literature."

"Of course, I am sure _that_ must be the problem."

They fell into silence. The sky slowly changed from the red and orange mix to a night-blue. The breeze from the day was a bit fresh by now and carried many different scents to the fox's nose. She could smell their surroundings, the people around them and even the flowers on a windowsill down the street.

"Kakashi, you said Team 7 will try out at the Chunin Exam. Are you sure, our kids are ready for this?" Tenko said after a few minutes of the man walking through Konoha with no visible goal in mind.

"Tenko-chan, I nominated _our_ cute little Genin with all of my trust in them and should they not pass, this is excellent training."

"Which you do not have to move one finger for." The fox snorted at her own comment.

"Of course, and since you are officially Naruto's summon, you will join them, since training is what you need the most of them." Tenko's eyes widened to comically large circles.

"No, I won't! Kakashi, are you finally insane? It took me however long since Naruto's graduation to learn the minimum of chakra control, enough for walking up a tree and my tracking skills are only good, because my developed senses came with the package. Gai gave me over three weeks of his painfully youthful training just to learn how to _dodge_. I suck!"

"Raising awareness: the first step forward to improve oneself." Kakashi didn't even try faking empathy. "I am sure you can learn much as well as the kids will do, Tenko-chan."

"Don't 'Tenko-chan' me, when I am complaining, old man. I don't have the patience for this. Or the talent." She hissed back, but the heat in her voice was missing. "You think we can survive _and_ come out with more experience and skill?"

"I am sure about the surviving and experience part, but skill is a big word in your case."

"Ah, you know how to crush someone's self-esteem. I can see why Hokage-sama wanted you to become a sensei and work with children." The fox looked up to the sky. "But, seriously though. Aren't I more of a hinderance than help for them?"

Kakashi turned at the next corner and they made their way to the outer training grounds.  
"It depends on the situation, but I have to admit most situations would not be in your favour. With your senses the kids could find their opponents faster, should a confrontation be necessary, or you could help them avoid fighting if needed. And you are using more chakra from your reserves on a daily basis by now. You won't be allowed to just show up in the middle of the exam to leech on some chakra."

"…We are going down, but I still respect your unreasonable amount of trust in our survival. Should I die, I will go back to haunting you."

"Go back?"  
The fox chose to ignore the man for the time being and went back to observing their surroundings. Kakashi had brought them to the memorial stone and without any conversation was lost in his thoughts.

Tenko looked around them and, when she realised the Jonin had no intention of letting her go, she started reading the names engraved into the stone. More than once did she follow ninjas to the memorial, but never did the idea came to the summons mind to _look_ at the object of sorrow and grief.

There were too many names for the fox's liking, way too many. All died for their village on missions. She might not have any previous memories, but the idea of fighting and killing and _dying_ just wouldn't sit right with Tenko. The whole concept of violence and the 'honourable death' of shinobi did not match with her own beliefs, but this world was unforgiving and just because one person hesitated, sadly did not mean the other one automatically did the same.

'_Kill or be killed. And I thought I am the animal, ' _she thought cynically.

Kakashi stood on his spot for the next hour and the fox, hanging limp in his arm, could not bring herself to interrupt the most private part of the man's routine.  
When he finally decided to head back home, he shifted and then gave the animal a questioning look.

"I completely forgot about you, Tenko-chan." Said fox gave a deadpanned expression.

"Aren't you a charmer? The women must love you. Or men, I don't judge. Now be a nice sensei and bring me home, I am hungr- Oh, shit! The kids wanted to meet up for dinner and I missed it. Kakashi, this is your fault!"  
The man started walking back and gave no indication of hearing what was said.

"Tenzo won't be with us for the next few days. He has to help out on a mission and I decided for us to go on a short camping trip for some last minute drills to prepare you. As Hokage-sama said, Danzo can't reach you anymore, but I guess better safe than sorry and our cute Genin can polish their survival skills, too."

'_He- he actually sounds like a __real__ sensei_!' The fox was shocked.  
"We wouldn't have all those problems had you trained us seriously before and not just send the kids to pull weeds and pick up trash."

"Our profession and work is based on teamwork, Tenko-chan. How could I possibly let them throw shuriken at you when the kids prefer each other as a target?"

"So, everything it takes for you to teach us are serious life threats? I should have known. Remind me to piss off some nuke-nin after the exam is over."

"Maa, you shouldn't count on it, Tenko-chan."

"…Just get me back home, old man."

**.**

The next morning Tenzo-sensei was not present, just like Kakashi said the evening before. The Copy ninja had informed his Genin to bring their survival packs for the crash course in 'How to live through life threatening situations while camping'. Tenko hoped Naruto would take notes. It was in their (and Kyuubi's) best interest.

The Jonin was only half an hour late. Considering the urgency of their little trip, this was still impressive.

"You are (only a bit) late," Sakura and Naruto complained without real anger. Time taught them to expect this from their teacher. But this was a principle, so complaining it was.

Sasuke gave the Jonin a glance and hn'd at the man.

"For our sensei it is never too late to be unpunctual," Tenko said with faked wisdom and Kakashi gave his eye-smile.

"Let's go, my cute little Genin. We have little time, much to do and even more to train."

"And who's fault is that?" Naruto complained loudly.

"Urgh, he enjoys this way too much." Sakura said, shouldering the big duffel bag with the tents. She had changed her wardrobe, after agreeing with Tenko to not be useless anymore, from the red dress to grey, loose pants and blue or green shirts. A long-sleeved mesh shirt underneath covered her arms and the long, pink hair was tucked in a bun for the trip.

"I hope he falls off a tree in his sleep. This is too early," the last Uchiha mumbled under his breath when the sun slowly bathed Konoha in the morning's sunlight. Getting stronger or not, being informed about the trip on such a short notice caused all children to be in bed too late for enough rest.  
Tenko was delighted to have picked up his words and gave a cheeky grin, or whatever one could call it on a fox's face. The boy actually conversed!

Team 7 travelled for two hours in tree-to-tree-style, until Kakashi led the Genin to a small clearing near a small stream.

"Now, we will camp here for the next two nights and I want to see you guys do all preparations by yourself. The training will basically consist of drills-," Loud groans of protest and one hn were heard. "-sparring and I will do some surprise attacks and test your reactions. A fair warning: I won't care what time of the day or night it is, so you better prepare yourselves."

Wouldn't the fox know about the reason for this trip, she'd be impressed by the effort Kakashi put into this exercise. Minding the effort and work they would be forced to put into the next few days, the impressing effect was diminished heavily as well. Weren't the last three weeks bad enough? Only the sleep of the dead could suffice after this trip.

Being very useless without thumbs, Tenko took over the task to check their surroundings for other people or ninja (very unlikely) and animals (more likely). As expected, nobody without less than four legs or fur showed up or was around except for some crippled rabbit, so the summon came back after fifteen minutes to one and a half tents standing already, the first few traps were placed by Naruto and some wood for a fire was stacked in one place.

Five minutes later the children had prepared everything without many arguments or excessive bickering and Kakashi started checking everything.  
Shaking the small tents harder than necessary and nearly causing one to collapse, the man gave his eye-smile of approval.

"Now, I want you to stretch and then we will start our drills on water."

"Why on the water? We already know how to walk on it since Wave, sensei," Sakura voiced her thoughts.

"You can never practice too much, Sakura-chan."

Sasuke let out a humourless snort.

"That's thick, coming from you, sensei." Naruto gave a verbal agreement.

"- doing drills while controlling your chakra will also help you for your future. Tenko-chan needs this the most and you can profit as well."  
The fox groaned and rolled her eyes. _Of course_, he would use her as an excuse.

"Could you maybe _not_ pick on my lack of skills in every second sentence, sensei?"

"Yes, the moment there is no lack in _everything_ I'll stop." The eye-smile was as false as Kakashi's interest in only the porn novel's plot.

Sakura gave a sympathetic look. "The more he picks on you, the less he does on me." The duckling let out an amused huff, which he quickly hid under a cough and was the first to start stretching.

"You little witch are supposed to be on my side! What did I do to deserve this torture," Tenko complained to herself.

**.**

The drills on water went as expected. The kids did a fairly good job and Naruto managed to coax Sasuke into another competition of who did best, while Tenko took at least seven dips into the water in just half an hour. This was a big success in her book though.

"Hm, Tenko-chan. When was the last time, you absorbed Naruto's chakra?" Kakashi asked the drenched fox after the first set of drills _finally_ ended. She shook the water out of her fur, trying to get the man's pants wet and squinted her eyes at the floor while concentrating.

"Four days ago, I guess." The copy ninja gave an acknowledging sound.

"Are you exhausted yet? Or could you still go on?"

"Hmm, I feel fine enough, but I might need to recharge tomorrow."

"This is good, very good. Your chakra reserves grew with the training of the last month. You might need more chakra from Naruto but are also able to last longer." The Jonin turned to his whole team.

'_How couldn't they grow with the torture (training)?!_' Tenko thought, but decided not to voice out her opinion on this matter.

"I want you guys to practice some nin-jutsu now - could Tenko absorb your chakra, Naruto?" Kakashi gave Tenko a harder than necessary pat on the head for the wet pant legs.

"I feel like a battery… Naruto, oi, Naruto. I need some cuddles and chakra, sweetheart." She went over to the children sitting in a small circle and placed herself on Naruto's lap. The boy shrieked at the cold fur damping his clothed, wrapped a towel around the fox and then pulled his friend closer.  
After a minute Tenko noticed the continuous flow of chakra between them. Usually her reserves would be full by now, but this confirmed Kakashi's observation.

The more chakra her body absorbed, the more Tenko could feel the power vibrate in her body. She hadn't paid much attention to the different feelings related to her chakra levels before, but considering the higher amount Tenko could store in her body, the chakra's potency was more than noticeable.

After five minutes everybody was ready to continue and Kakashi started by making his team practice the replacement jutsu repeatedly and without long breaks in between. Whoever they might face in a fight, dodging and avoiding injuries was important and this should be helping his cute, little Genin survive and maybe even succeed battles against other teams.  
Also, learning how to do a jutsu without a break helps building chakra reserves and is useful for one's concentration and the future as well.

'_Aren't I a great sensei_?' Kakashi praised himself.

"Now, Tenko-chan, you were a complete failure with nin-jutsu by now. Hokage-sama, Tenzo and I put our heads together and I think now is as good as ever to try it.  
Technically you should be able to use fox fire. _Technically_. You didn't have the necessary chakra control to test it and we were inside Konoha, so I didn't want to risk it. Here we have enough space for you to practice and I want you to get back on the water should the attack backfire." There was a short pause.

"Please tell me, the pun was not intended," Tenko just commented but hesitantly walked onto the stream.

"I have to admit, this was not planned. Anyway, Konoha has no fox summon expert and we don't really know how fox fire works. I do hope you have some intuition or instinct that tells you how to do the technique."

"You seriously believe I have that?" The man got a sceptical look from the summon and gave an eye-smile without answering.  
'_So, he doesn't either._'

"The jutsu allows you to shoot compressed chakra out of your mouth. Maybe you can try to gather chakra and press it out like a deep breath or how Sasuke-kun uses his katon jutsu. We will have to figure this out ourselves, since hand seals are not needed for obvious reasons."

"Oh boy," Tenko heard Sakura say and Naruto was excited enough for the three of them.

"This is so cool! Tenko, you can do it. I believe in you!" This made the fox give a crocked smile.

"Your faith is not well placed in this case, sweetheart. And why did you stop your training?"

"Because I never saw fox fire." Sakura said.  
"Me neither", Tenko replied to herself.

"This is way better than changing locations with a log," the blonde Uzumaki confessed cheerfully.

"I want to see you fail once again. It's amusing." This was the third longest answer the Uchiha brat had said and it was as appreciated as his 'Hn's'.

"Is it really a good idea to have me balance on water with chakra _and_ try an attack we don't know anything about?" Tenko asked, having difficulties standing on the surface without constant concentration on her chakra control.

"The water is necessary for any possible negative outcome of your attempt. So please try aiming at it and not the forest. We don't need a wildfire right now."

She tried to ignore the eyes on her or how Naruto and the rest of the team inched closer in their excitement and/or amusement.

The chakra pulsed through the summon with power, making her mouth prickle when she led the steady flow through her throat. Tenko had no idea what she was doing, closing her eyes didn't activate forgotten instincts or skills.

The Hyuga clan head had said there was a disturbance or fluctuation just before the fox summon released the chakra for a jutsu. Would it happen again? Could she really start a wildfire?  
Maybe it didn't work before because she tried a jutsu fox summons weren't supposed to perform? But this was a technique of her own kind. She could succeed, right?

Deciding not to overthink everything, Tenko gathered a big amount of chakra she estimated fitting for an attack called fox fire. Her tongue felt a bit numb for the many seconds the muscle was flooded with the Kyuubi's chakra and Tenko's body tensed up slightly.  
She could do this. Yes, she could.  
'_Just try to bundle and compress it_.'

The fraction of a second before Tenko released the chakra, the summon could feel a fluctuation for the first time. The chakra - gathered in throat and mouth - left her body, but instead of going straight ahead, turning into fire or blowing up in her face, Tenko could feel a strange shift in her surroundings and in the time span of one second Tenko and the rest of Team 7 felt a strange push and pull, the loss of ground (and water) under their feet and they fell.

**.**

Groaning loudly, the fox pushed her head from the ground and opened her eyes. A headache started to form and the failed attempt had not only used the gathered chakra but also absorbed more when the strange feeling and fall happened. Her reserves were lower than the summon was comfortable with, considering she'd just absorbed much.

Tenko looked at her surrounding to check on the kids and Kakashi. Hopefully they were able to get away from whatever had happened fast enough. Or weren't hurt.  
This was the moment she finally noticed that something was wrong. Very wrong.

First, the fox was _alone_. No human around, none.

Second, there was no clearing, no stream of water, no camp or mishandled tents. Tenko way laying on a rock about a meter high and she was surrounded by a wide meadow. Somewhere in the distance was the beginning of a forest. The location was nowhere near their campsite.

Third, _the colours were wrong_.  
The gras was violet like an ocean of lavender, the sky shone in a light green without any clouds (hell for the Nara), the trees' bark was blue with blood red leaves. The earth and rocks had different shades of yellow and the sun was, what was that colour? Grey? Silver? It looked similar to Kakashi's hair.

"What in the fucking fuck is going on?" Tenko shrieked out, but there was nobody to hear her question.  
Pushing herself up on her paws, the summon groaned again. Her body was protesting, her muscles sore like two days' worth of Gai's whole-day-training and the headache just intensified with movements.

Tenko was not back in the sewer-space with the Kyuubi, so much was obvious with no gigantic chakra-mass of a fox in sight. And this place was too bright for the grumpy guy.  
Whatever this was and wherever the summon was located, she wanted to be back at the camp with Naruto and the team. Even Kakashi's on-water-drills were more appreciated.

'_I need chakra, damnit. My level is way too low_.' She cursed and started walking towards the forest with an aching body. Whatever went wrong before Tenko had the opportunity to even attempt at fox fire, this was the result. And she did not like it.  
What started in the forest had to end in the forest, right?

Over one hour was Tenko walking over the violet gras and the trees could finally be distinguished by sight, well, Tenko's improved summon-eyes sight. The types of trees were the same as in and around Konoha, but Tenko could not form any ideas where this would be. And shouldn't she be able to cover more ground at her pace?

'_Wait, is this a gen-jutsu_?' Tenko carefully gathered a minimal amount of chakra and tried to expel any sort of jutsu around her. Nothing happened.  
'_Did I damage my eyes? Oh god, what if I go blind_?!'

For the next thirty minutes Tenko crossed another meadow and conspired theory over theory why she saw what she was. The ideas just became more abstract with every minute.  
From the first guess of gen-jutsu she went over damaged eyes, to lying in a coma with a vivid dream, to some sort of chakra cloak over her sight, to an acid trip caused by her jutsu-failure, to being trapped in an abstract painting of an artist.

Not having the best sense of time, Tenko tried her luck in locating the position of the Kakashi-sun, which didn't help at all.  
She must have been walking for at least two hours, but the sun seemed to be in the same position and- was the colour brighter? The fox stopped in her tracks and tried to stare at the light grey/silver globe in the green sky.

Then she started laughing. Yup, she had to have lost her mind. A brightness-changing Kakashi-sun. Sure. Put a dimmer on that thing and turn it up for daylight.

The lonely, fake laughter quickly became too awkward and Tenko went silent again. She didn't even have someone to _tell_ her to shut up or worry with her.  
'_Could they be in the forest__? What if I can't find them_?'

Then something happened what the fox could slap herself for. She remembered her training in tracking.  
Why she did not have the idea before the fox couldn't say, but she was pissed at herself for forgetting.

Enhancing her senses Tenko tried to get any signs of her humans and for the first time noticed the strange tranquillity and silence of this place. Sure, she could hear some birds and insects in the forest ahead, but there was no wind. Only her steps gave some sounds.  
And the smell was strange, too.  
As if the whole area was covered with a light blanket of one and the same scent. Tenko had no idea _what_ she was smelling, but everything around her gave of the same one. Like the no-scent soap bars before getting wet.

Finally arriving at the edge of the forest, Tenko looked back to the meadow, but nobody was around. Going into unknown territory without any idea what lies ahead and low chakra levels was in no way the preferred condition for neither travel not exploration, but the fox just wanted to find her way back home and to her team. Taking a deep breath, the summon turned back to the forest and took the first step.

Which was seriously the most stupid, idiotic, moronic, reckless and overall most Naruto-ish decision she could have made.  
Cursing herself and thinking back to her conversation with Kakashi about Tsunade's bets and her own bad luck, Tenko now knew the equivalent to either the rebuilt apartment or Danzo's death. She was tending to the apartment, Danzo's death was too important for her survival for a simple… what was this? Teleportation? Coma?

After walking for only five minutes, a monstrous beast more or less appeared out of thin air behind the summon and she had to run. A truly gigantic boar with huge tusks and steam coming out of its nostrils was chasing her through the thicket with the occasional destruction of a tree in the beast's way. And it was blue with yellow dots. What problem had this place with normal colours?

Tenko was screaming like crazy, zigzagging around rocks, trees and everything she came across.  
Her chakra reserves were shrinking further, but they were high enough for a little boost in her legs, without it she would not be able to keep her small distance to the boar in any other way. Her levels were also too low to attempt tree-climbing, because it needed more chakra than basic running and the branches were too high to reach.

Having to sidestep another redwood, Tenko lost a few valuable meters in distance, nearly feeling the boar's steamy breath on her tails.

"No. Shit. No. Shit. No. Shit. Noooo. Leave me alone!" But the boar was not interested in her opinion.  
Just when Tenko was sure the monster could stomp on her with its next steps, something dark flashed down from above and with a loud, painfilled shriek the boar slammed into the ground.

Tenko hid behind a tree and then dared to look back after a moment of silence. And she was ready to sing songs of praise and worshipping.  
On the huge head of the boar sat the Uchiha boy with a kunai buried deep into its skull. Furious boar-eyes, once focussed on the fox, were exchange with 'x'-es and a long tongue hanging limply out of the unmoving mouth.  
Seriously, what was wrong with this place?

Sasuke climbed off the animal and cleaned his kunai in its bristles. Before the boy had a chance to say something, the fox had already jumped him and he got a mouth full of fur.

"_Thank_ the llama's daughter, you found me! Duckling, I could kiss you! I thought I was all alone and that thing would _kill_ me! Where are the others? Have you seen them? Are they around? Are you okay?" The fox bubbled and carefully sniffed at the brat's face, hair and neck for the scent of blood or other injuries. He smelled just fine and normal, when a bit stressed, but who wouldn't be. Smelling something different than the strange soap scent all around them was also a pleasant change.

Sasuke grunted and sat the fox back onto the ground, spitting and brushing fur from his tongue.

"I was searching the others when I heard you. Not three hours in this crazy place and you get chased by some wild animal. How did you survive until now?" Tenko blinked once. Twice. Thrice.

"Dumb luck? …Oh, wow. Kid, are you alright? You never said so much to me without an insult."

"This was _supposed to be_ an insult, stupid. Seriously, you are a worse trouble magnet than the dobe."

"Tenkooo." A shout suddenly attracted our attention and when we looked up, Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi came flying from the trees. The orange blur clashed into the fox and pressed her into his chest.  
"Tenko! You are fine! I was so worried about you, dattebayo!" The blonde boy cried loudly and his arms started cutting off the summon's blood circulation.

"Naruto, I think you should let Tenko-chan go. Her eyes will pop out." Kakashi had a far too amused tone in his voice at the fox's suffering.  
Naruto let his friend go and gave an apologetic grin.

"We are all back together now. I was really worried when I woke up all alone," the pink-haired girl gave the summon a pat on the head and her eyes conveyed just how worried the kunoichi still was.  
"But then Kakashi-sensei and Naruto found me and we started searching for you. Good thing you were so loud, Tenko-chan. It really helped finding you."

"Urgh, you are welcome. Next time I'll just start yelling from the beginning." Tenko nuzzled the girl's hand and then went to their sensei, clearly expecting something for the man.

The man looked down at the fox while she stared up at him. Both waited. Nothing happened.

"Don't you think your team needs some emotional support?" Tenko asked dryly.

"Our cute, little Genin look fine to me." Kakashi kept looking down at the summon.

"Let me rephrase it: don't you think you should act more empathic and act less carefree?"

"Again, our cute, little Genin look fine to me. Naruto-kun is loud, Sakura-chan is being Sakura-chan and Sasuke-kun is taciturn."  
Naruto and Sakura looked ready to protest and Sasuke gave a hn while crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"No. The broody duck actually gave five full sentences from him. It concerns me." Said boy shortly glared at the fox, but she gave a lopsided grin.  
Yes, well times humour was not her strong point, but at least she tried.

"We all just landed somewhere without a straight colour-concept and this is not anywhere _near_ our camp or Konoha. Do you really expect us to shrug it off, sensei?" Sakura had a sceptic tone in her voice, asking herself about the mental stability of the Jonin.

The Jonin let out a heavy sigh, contradicting his playful comments and he made a hand gesture for everyone to sit down.  
"Honestly? No, I don't. Naruto and I have sent shadow clones to scout the area, but none of them found even one familiar landmark yet. I am sure you all tried to release chakra to test a genjutsu or tried other methods as well. This place somehow is sealed off of our home and I can't reach my ninken."

Kakashi took the time to make eye contact with his team. They were tense, waiting for him to say what exactly happened and what was going on. Sakura unconsciously gripped one of Naruto's sleeves while he held the fox. Sasuke tried to play down his own uneasiness, but his stiff limbs gave him away.

"I am sorry to say this, but I assume we are stranded in another dimension."


	16. Chapter 16

"What do you mean _stranded_?" Tenko's question was more of a shriek than anything. Her eyes darted around to find something of help or to magically appear for their aid.

"This is so your fault!" The hissed voice of Sasuke led her eyes to him and an angry expression took over her face. Taking a couple of steps towards him, the summon showed her teeth and growled enraged.

"Why is this _my_ fault? I didn't intent to get us here! I- I- How are you even sure this was me? It could have been you as well! Or Kakashi! Or some stupid enemy jutsu!" She barked back. How dare Sasuke to accuse her without any proof? How dare the duckling to blame her at all?!

"You were the one using chakra and the dope's traps would've alarmed us of any intruder. It had to be you and the stupid fox fire. I need to take the Chunin exam and get stronger, but now I am stuck here!" The duckling shot back with a tense voice. For an Uchiha this was just before an explosion and he didn't even notice the backsided compliment for Naruto's traps.  
Tenko glared at the boy with eyes full of rage. Was this really the same kid who started being more friendly and open with his team in the last week?

Next to them stood Kakashi, observing the spectacle and he did not know whether he should be impressed or scared at how much the last Uchiha was talking.

"In case you forgot already, Kakashi told me to try out the god damn fox fire! And he was the one telling me to figure something out." Tenko redirected the accusation at their sensei, whose eye slightly twitched.

"Oh my god. Oh my god! We are _stuck_! Sensei, please, get us back home! I want to go _home_! What if we never get back?!" Sakura choked out with teary eyes and arms holding her upper body for comfort. She just wanted to see her parents again, have them embrace her and never let go.  
Sitting on her place, the girl made light rocking movements, muffling her sobs by pressing her face into Naruto's shoulder. She was stressed, rightfully, but it was clear as day that she was not good coping with their location change.

Naruto was continuously muttering Kakashi's revelation and stressing the words for emphasis. "We are _stranded_. We _are_ stranded. _We_ are stranded. _We. Are. Stranded_!" The poor boy wasn't as hysterical as his female teammate, which was odd enough, but his momentary disbelieve and uncoordinated, nervous circle-rubbing on Sakura's back did not help the girl to calm, either.

Sasuke went on accusing Tenko and Kakashi for their less than unfortunate situation to hinder his personal growth for vengeance. The rage in his eyes gained heat by all the stress in the air.

Clenching her teeth, the fox started growling at the Uchiha brat again. She hated the look he was giving her and how cold his whole being became once again, just like the first time they sat on the roof to introduce each other. And this time it was all directed at her.

"How the fuck should I know this shit is possible?! I can't even make a clone or stand on water for ten minutes straight and now you think I am responsible for a dimension shift or whatever?! You always make fun of my great lack in skills and now I suddenly have the capability to pull this stunt off?!"

"Who else was trying to do an unknown jutsu?! It _always_ backfires on you somehow. And now you are taking away everything I live for!"

"You live for murder, duckling. That's _not_ healthy nor worth living for."

"I want to go home! What if we _die_ here?! I'll never see my parents again! Oh my god! I had so much planned for in my life," the girl continued crying and Kakashi made the silent comment that Sakura was the only one of the group with living parents and relatives welcome to Konoha. Being their sensei, he had the responsibility to bring his students back home and to their loved ones (Sakura's parents and Iruka-sensei in Naruto's case). Sadly, Kakashi had to admit to himself, he didn't know how to do it.

"TEME! Shut up! And leave Tenko alone! We _all_ are stuck here! How do you think I can become Hokage in this place?! In case you forgot, we are stranded. Together! This means we all either live our dreams when we get back home or die here." This resulted in Sakura giving another hysterical sob and pressing her face back into the boy's orange jacket for comfort, making the blonde boy wince in guilt.

Everybody was talking and screaming and crying at the same time, utterly consumed by their own emotions and the stress of the situation. Not only were they all fuelling each other's emotions, but they became _louder_, even Sasuke.

This was the moment Kakashi finally had enough of their behaviour. Sure, they were children and skipping through dimensions was no walk-in-the-park-activity, but the level of hysteria was getting ridiculous. This situation was a first for Kakashi, too, but was he screaming and crying? No.  
Leaking killing intent, the Jonin didn't have to raise his voice to speak.

"This is enough. You guys had your time to panic and now we will search for a solution. For the moment, I do not care whose fault this is but how we get back home. Sakura, I expect you to stop crying. Naruto, calm down and don't be so loud. Sasuke, kindly shut up, playing the blame-game does not help us. Tenko, stop reacting to him like a banshee and fuel his provocations. You guys are shinobi, no toddlers!"

Kakashi cancelled his killing intent, took a deep breath and gave everyone a moment to calm down. Children were not the right company for the man, not with their childish, age-appropriate behaviour when stuck in a different dimension.

His words seemed to have the desired effect.  
Limbs were relaxing, sobs stopped, wet cheeked were dried and the sudden silence started clearing their head from the first wave of panic and stress.

"Now, I do not expect you to work miracles or invent a jutsu to get us back, but I do expect you to try and not jump at each other's throat at the first sign of a problem, for now at least. Where is the development as a team from the last few weeks?"

"Gone with the wind. Not even a breeze in this place." Naruto might have mumbled his answer into his imaginary beard, and he might have said it uncharacteristically silently, but Tenko's fox ears and their sensei still picked it up.

"Naruto-kun, you should leave the poor jokes at a bad timing for Tenko-chan. You are better than that." Kakashi was using his typical suffixes again, which was a good sign for the Genin. Tenseness and difficult situations sometimes resulted in their sensei ignoring them, but now they were back.

When Sakura busted out with a strangled, sobbed laughter, the spell of seriousness and panic was finally broken, and Naruto's was showing a grin again. Sasuke was not as tense and angry as he was just a minute ago, which wasn't too much, but the disappearing frown was a start and Tenko took a deep breath, trying to compose herself.

'_That I ever could be happy to hear one of Kakashi's verbal jabs._' Tenko thought with a wry grin and shook herself like after a bath to relax her limbs.

"Now, before we can come up with a plan, we need to find shelter or a base, before the day is over. I recommend the trees, since Tenko-chan demonstrated what kind of animals are living here and we don't have our bags with extra weaponry and medical kits with us." Kakashi started and holstered the boar on his shoulders. Gathering chakra into his feet, the man was the first to walk up a big tree and the Genin were quick to follow.

"Naruto, wait!" Tenko's cry stopped the humans and they all looked down at the still sitting fox.

"What's wrong?" Naruto furrowed his brows. Why wasn't the fox following them? By now she was able to walk up trees.

"I- I don't think I have enough chakra left for tree walking. Can you give me a lift? And maybe share some with me? Our journey was more chakra consuming than I am comfortable with, I guess." The summon gave a crooked smile, but her twitching tails gave away the uneasiness she felt at the mediocre chakra levels barely fueling her system.

"Oh, of course." Naruto turned around and jumped back to the ground for his friend, wrapping his arms securely around her. Cradling her against his chest, Naruto turned around and caught up with their waiting teammates. "Why didn't you say something already?"

Tenko gave a fake laugh at the question. "Sorry, I think I was busy being stressed out and playing the damsel in distress for the duckling to safe me." This earned a snort from Sakura and for the first time the fox noticed her appearance.

The girl looked like shit. Her hair was rivalling Naruto's wild hairstyle, lonely strands of pink rebelled gravity and there had to be many, many knots. Her green shirt was ripped on one side, but the mesh shirt seemed to have protected her body from whatever was the cause of the sign of destruction. Her pants were still in one piece, but more dirt than after one of Kakashi's and Tenzo's combined training sessions had found its way on the piece of clothing. Pinky's eyes were red and puffy from crying and her whole body was trembling from exhaustion.

Turning her head, Tenko noticed that all members were in a similar state, admitted, Kakashi seemed the fittest, but he was a Jonin.

The fox bit her tongue, when her friend carried her up the tree and started feeding her chakra simultaneously.  
They quickly reached the top of the tree with enough space for everyone to sit and even store the boar to cook it later on.

"Naruto, you can stop now. I don't need more chakra at the moment," the summon said and wiggled herself out of the Uzumaki's arms.

"But this was way less chakra than this morning," came Naruto's protest and he tried grabbing the fox, but he only got one of her tails. Immediately, Tenko stilled and turned her head around.

"I am still in better condition than you guys and you need some rest. Leeching on your reserves right now does not help you recover. And please, let go off my tail."

"One minute ago, you hadn't enough chakra to walk up a tree, Tenko-chan. Unlike you, we can rest and produce our own chakra." Sakura tried to support Naruto in this matter. In the last month Team 7 had more than enough chances to learn about each other and Tenko's chakra-related problems became one of the prominent facts (and jokes) about her and Naruto's relationship, next to being friends and roommates, of course.

"No, thank you. I just got out of danger, we are back together, and Kakashi-sensei is a capable Jonin. For now, we are safe, and I can take Naruto's chakra when he's well rested. Not when he is exhausted and tired. I am not _that_ selfish." The fox tried to sound friendly, while being pissed at herself for not noticing the children's physical and emotional state earlier on.

Sure, one of Tenko's top priorities was her own survival, resulting in a need for reasonable chakra levels in her system, but she had developed a soft spot for Naruto's peers and ignoring a child's needs did not sit well with Tenko's beliefs. A lot of Konoha's citizens always ignored Naruto and the fox refused to find herself on their social level. And their sensei was with them, who was an elite shinobi with possibly more jutsus at his arsenal than any other creature in this strange place.

Letting out a loud sigh, Kakashi shook his head at the scene in front of him.  
"Didn't I tell you guys to calm down?" After a short pause, the copy-ninja started pulling out all of his weapons, ninja wire and explosion tags he had on his body, which was surprisingly much. "We need to check our weapons and have to keep close watch on how many and how often we use them for the time being. The worst that could happen to us now is losing everything to defend ourselves with."

The Genin started pilling everything they had in the middle of their small circle of people and they checked their inventory. 30 kunai, three sets of senbon, 25 metres of ninja wire (mostly from Sasuke), 47 shuriken, 15 explosion tags and Sakura's medical kit.

"I assume it could be worse?" Sakura tried and looked up at her sensei with hopeful eyes, earning a snort from the Uchiha.

"That's for sure, Saukra-chan. We will have to be very careful to not waste any kunai or shuriken, until we find a way to get back. Tenko, you will be tracking animals and search for fruits when we have to hurt for food. I would prefer you kids use stones and we make spears for hunting instead of using our few weapons. We have two water bottles for now, but I expect you to be resourceful until we find drinkable water."

After Kakashi's short instructions, everybody nodded in agreement, not that there were any better ideas, but the kids also did not question their sensei and his experiences as a shinobi.

"Somehow this turned into a real survival trip, didn't it?" Tenko commented drily, making Naruto groan loudly and Sakura rub her eyes with the palms of her hands.

"Don't remind me," she said while storing her belongings back into her pouch.

"Well, at least our training got more authentic. And Tenko can finally walk up trees without our 'help'. So, no kunai wasted here and maybe she can try the jutsu again. You know? Reverse the effects or something?" Naruto tried to find the positive points in their situation and offer his ideas.

"Considering the circumstances, I don't think she should attempt to help us at all," shot Sasuke at the blonde boy. He was still very much pissed at the talent the fox had repeatedly proven to make their lives and training more difficult.

"Teme, shut up. Like you can get us back."

"I didn't get us here in the first place."

"Boys, you are not helping. And Kakashi-sensei told us to keep calm."

"But he started it, Sakura-chan!"

"Hn."

"Don't "hn" me, teme! You just talked in whole sentences!"

"HN!"

"This is enough. Everybody, go rest and get some sleep." Kakashi cut in, gave a short glance at his little Genin, before fixing his eyes on Tenko. "You try and get some sleep, too, because you will take the second watch. This gives you guys around six hours to sleep and gain back your strength. And I expect you to cool down your tempers. Now, sleep."  
He ended their discussion and took a seat on a thick tree branch with the boar to gut it and prepare the meat for cooking later on.

The Genin shot each other more or less heated looks, before everybody tried to get as comfortable as possible and rest.  
Naruto grabbed Tenko and pulled her against himself with more force than necessary, but without hurting the summon. Said fox grunted at the embrace of steel, but she accepted Naruto's need for body contact and affection. As did Sakura, when she slid next to Tenko and Naruto to bury her hands in the soft fur.

The last Uchiha glanced at his teammates and had one of them opened their eyes, they would have seen the sign of longing in his eyes. Never wanting to admit it out loud – he was an Uchiha after all -, Sasuke had started to feel more comfortable with the merry band of idiots and their strange teachers. Not only had the boy to deal with Kakashi, but Tenzo-sensei could rival the oddness of the copy-ninja from time to time.

They were a colourful bunch with Naruto, the deadlast and his constant challenges and loudness; Sakura, the civilian raised fangirl and her development in character (less fangirling from day to day), slowly showing competence and sometimes funny commentary; Tenko, the malfunctioning fox summon without chakra and her endless, entertaining display in failure and awareness of the children's social needs and finally Kakashi, their Jonin sensei without social skills and his… whatever it was he gave them - Stability? A team? Horribly tiring training sessions? - Sasuke somehow never felt bored or out of place. He belonged.

The last week had been when the boy really felt the change for the first time, after Tenko commented on him being ready to catch the fox for her usual greetings.  
How much he had accepted the firstly forced body contact and cuddles, the team's attempts to act like a unit, the jokes on each other's costs, Tenko's change in his nickname, her being around him more and more and letting the Uchiha pat her head and feel her fur between his fingers whenever the depressing thoughts caught up with him or his need for affection could no longer be supressed.

But what did this do for him now? Sasuke had temporarily lost focus on his goal, his vengeance. It had made him feel more like home, yes, but it also made him vulnerable, let down his guard around Team 7 and now they were stuck in another dimension.  
Sasuke had to become stronger. He had to gain enough power to kill Ita- _him_, because this was what he lived for since the Uchiha massacre. He had to revive his clan, had to hate more.

He _had to_, but- why was his team of misfits giving him the things he hoped to get after killing his brother?  
This turmoil of emotions was new to Sasuke, because the nice feeling blooming in him to be with is teammates felt too strange, foreign after years of isolating himself and drowning in blinding hate.

With those thoughts the boy closed his eyes and tried to follow his sensei's instructions to catch some sleep.

**.**

Kakashi had finished skinning and fileting the boar after an hour while keeping his senses sharp for any sign of danger. The fur was hung over a thin branch to dry, the meat to bleed out for cooking and the man started working on the animal's bones and tusks to create tools and sharp tips for spears. He felt his eyes hurt at the strange colour contrast compared to his usual surroundings and had to blink after staring into the distance for too long. The whole forest, the small animals on the ground, the few birds around them, they all smelled the same except for the boar's blood and meat after cutting it open.

Was this a defence mechanism the creatures developed for their survival?  
Did the scent just stick to them?  
What would they have to hide or fight against?

Kakashi took a long look over his shoulder to his team. The children were all curled up near each other and judging by their deep and regular breathing patters they all managed to fall asleep by now.

Naruto was keeping up his grip of steel around the fox's middle even in the land of dreams. The summon had managed to roll over on her back, but the arm she was laying on made her spine bend in an odd angle, promising pain when she had to be woken up for her watch. Sakura had snuck one arm over Tenko and her limb rested on Naruto's shoulder, while her other fist was buried in Tenko's neck fur. Sasuke had unconsciously started sliding over to his teammates, but he was still over an armlength away from them.

Kakashi felt conflicted for his team, even after being their sensei for a few months. He was not the sanest Jonin, or the one with the best people skills (maybe the lack thereof was a secret requirement to get the rang?), or one to offer consistency if you ignored his reliable tardiness. He had lost everybody close and important to him, leaving deep scars and fear to relive his past with his own Genin team.

This had almost been proven correct with the mission in Wave and the tendency for Naruto to run headfirst into danger didn't calm his heat beat either.  
Sakura was physically at a disadvantage and only recently started to show the will to change, which Kakashi was more than thankful for. The Jonin knew that this change in mind was nothing he could take the credit for.  
Sasuke was at the exact opposite end of the scale. He was driven by vengeance and the desire for power to kill his last living relative, without caring for his team. The Uchiha also showed signs of development and the Jonin was hoping this was not destroyed after they ended in this odd dimension and the boy went back into his cold, depressed emo-mode for an hour.

Kakashi's biggest problem child had to be the fox summon. Tenko could not produce chakra on her own, was reluctant to fight or use violence and had no skill to live the life of a ninja or a true summon. The numerous amounts of mishaps with chakra and jutsus and the strange form-changing had not only stopped her very, very slow development, but it also proved to be more potent to danger for their team.  
Not that she ever intended to hurt the children, but they had to fix whatever problem she had causing her chakra fluctuation.

Behind all the problems and issues coming with the fox for Kakashi and their team, the man could see the advantage of having the summon around. She may not be a good ninja, but Tenko had the social skills and good handling with children Kakashi lacked.

The first month without her in the team went fairly well, with Naruto and Sasuke constantly competing against each other, throwing more insults than weapons and Sakura either worshipping the dirt under Sasuke's sandals or yelling at and hitting Naruto.

Bringing Tenko into the equation had caused a harsh shift in their 'balance' and everybody had to find new ways to – more or less – get along. Giving the summon's very bias opinion about the children in relation to Naruto was the first obstacle, but with some time she had proven to be empathic, care for other people as well and help Kakashi's little Genin to bond while offering physical comfort the man could not provide for the kids.

The Jonin still had trouble learning how to let people back into his life, and giving the children the affection they clearly needed was not easy, but he got better.  
A head pat here, a hair ruffle there and not letting his team wait for three but only two hours in the morning, being around them for sixty minutes more than before. The changes might not be visible for his Genin team, but Kakashi himself noted how much easier those acts of praise were nowadays.

His team had grown to him, they really had. The kids often reminded him of his own teammates for a past long ago, making his heart ache with pain but also beat with the need to protect, to be at their side. He did not want to lose them or see them die before his own death. No, what Kakashi did wish for them was to grow together, become the second family they sometimes acted like already and live a good life. The Jonin scratched his masked cheek at the thought, feeling slightly embarrassed to admit his wish to himself.

The copy-ninja considered himself a realist, sometimes a bastard, but this optimism for his cute, little Genin was a revelation to Kakashi he thought to have lost after Minato-sensei had died.

He gave another look over his shoulder to his team. Maybe he could keep this optimism alive and see his humble wish come true. For his team, for a second family.

**.**

Tenko was woken for her watch and after the Jonin had helped her escape Naruto's and Sakura's claws she gave the Jonin a smile and sat on the spot he previously used.  
Not feeling the need to comment on the man's tired and exhausted posture or the dark ring under his visible eye, the fox listened for the man to fall asleep in a matter of minutes. Kakashi had used the few hours they were in this strange place searching for them, using shadow clones for scouting (with way less chakra than Naruto) and he worked to convey a sense of safety. Not considering the emotional work he must have gone through.

From her time in her ghost state, Tenko saw and heard some of the stuff on Kakashi's tap – his hour-long mourning in front of the memorial stone was just one aspect. Respecting most personal boundaries, partly in her own interest and to not feel like a creepy, invisible stalker, the summon kept her distance from ninjas in emotional stress.  
Still, she knew enough about the man by now to appreciate the little things he did for them, even _if_ his training methods, tardiness and quirks could easily overshadow the positive traits; but the man was here with them for now, leading them in new territory and taking care of them.

Tenko used the tiniest amount of chakra to enhance her senses and give a quick check of their surroundings.  
it has only been a couple of hours in the strange dimension, but the summon was already sick of the special soap's scent and the clash of dominant colours.

**.**

_Day three_

"Have you found anything yet?" the whisper made the tick on her temple grow.

"_No_, not yet. Stop asking every ten seconds. When I found our next dinner, you can be certain, I _will_ tell you," Tenko pressed out through her teeth and gave the blonde a short glare.  
For the last thirty minutes Naruto and Tenko were out to hurt their dinner and after days of boar meat, berries and roots, the fox was sure to ignore any sign of boar trails in hope to find a rabbit or birds.  
The fact that every being smelled the same as the trees, dirt, rocks and basically everything else made hunting more difficult and Tenko was ready to pull out her fur in frustration. The odd colours of this world also did not help to distinguish a pink rabbit from the lavender-coloured meadows at first glance.

"What about now?" Tenko let out a low growl.

"Naruto, I just told you to be quiet. Don't make me regret the next course of action against you." The annoyed frustration resulted in the summon talking way louder than anticipated, since the fox was used to Naruto's personality.  
A short distance away two pink rabbits startles, giving them away by making noises, which was the only sense Tenko could fully use without limitation in this odd environment.

Naruto made a chakra enhanced jump and killed both animals with the hunting knife made of boar tusks. Grinning, the blonde head helt their prey up for his teammate to see.  
"Got 'em!"

Tenko shook her head while letting out a deep sigh. She really could not be angry with or annoyed at her friend, even if he aggravated their hunting session.

**.**

_Day eight_

A pile of leaves started to burn after the fireball hit it with too much chakra and an earth jutsu buried the brown and red objects disappear under the yellow dirt.

"I am _sick_ of those colours! SICK! When I get back, I will burn everything I own and only wear black! And I will repaint Konoha's gates white!" The pink-haired girl yelled like a banshee on the loose. Sakura pulled her hair out of her face and glared at the pink strands.

"Let's ask Jiji to ban red, blue, violet, yellow and green in any combination and pattern when we get back. And make black the national colour. We just have to do puppy-eyes and sob about this horrible place."

"Hn. And get rid of scent-cancelling soap." The Uchiha boy took a conscious sniff and frowned. The scent was all around them, every time of the day. After the first two days they all had somehow managed to ignore it, Kakashi having more problems than the children, but his mask was a big help. Tenko was still not over it and every hunt was a reminder to the fox how the whole dimension smelled, how horrible the colours could hurt the vision and how much a dimming Kakashi-sun could make the play of colours better or worse.

"Black and brown are acceptable," even Kakashi was finding himself to agree with his cute little Genin. He might not be as vocal as the kids, but the man was missing normal earth-toned colours, too. If the Jonin could, he's rub his hair in brown mud to not look similar to the damn sun, but the dirt was yellow and he did not want yellow hair.

Most days Team 7 could ignore the crazy art project this dimension seemed to be, but today was one of the days Sakura was too close to lose her shit over the colours in pure annoyance.  
Her teammates slowly learned to accept her mood swings and Kakashi secretly feared for the girl to be in the starting stage of puberty.

Sasuke went back to burning red leaves and blue wood logs to find an outlet for the hate of this place while Naruto and Kakashi continued to gut the orange fishes for dinner. Tenko finished her chakra control exercise and started playing with the thought of joining the girl in burying the burned ashes.  
Sparring and practice were done for the day, all the resources were filled back up and the fox had nothing better to do right now.

Everything was relatively peaceful, until Sakura pulled back her hair once again, let out a strangles noise and ran up the tree to their small base. She gained sceptical looks and raised eyebrows, but the girl hadn't the nerves to care.  
She was so very sick of the colours, and the soap smell, and the colours, and the dimension, and the orange fishes, and the pink rabbits, and the blue boars with yellow dots, and the colour of her own hair!

Grabbing the next best weapon, a Kakashi-made hunting knife, the girl yanked at her hair and without hesitation the lose strands started falling to the ground.

"Holy shit! Sakura-chan, what are you-," Naruto started, but a furious glare, made him shut up.

"I do not want to see this pink shit any longer in my face! How can you guys even look at me without going insane?"

"Who says we are still sane?" Tenko asked with a surprisingly calm voice, watching the girl cut more and more hair off. "At least, ask Kakashi-sensei to chop your hair off. He has the most skills with knifes and you might stab yourself in the skull, sweety."

Sakura actually paused in her assault and looked from another bunch of loose hair in her hands to Tenko and then to her sensei.  
Said man gave a loud sigh, but stood up and washed his hands in the small river next to them.

"Come down here, Sakura-chan. I cannot promise you a nice hair-do, but you won't end up with bald spots or scars."

Half an hour later the girl was showing an acceptable pixie cut and no hair was long enough to reach Sakura's vision.  
At dinner, the whole group vowed to make their team's colours brown, black and white.

**.**

_Day fourteen_

Today was a day like any other for Team 7, who was still stuck in their colourful dimension. They still scouted the area and still sent Naruto's clones to explore new areas in hope for more food and maybe some miraculous way home. Every suspicious looking portal was welcome just to finally leave this place.  
But alas, the portal never showed itself.

Tenko was left behind in their base while the rest of Team 7 was out to hunt, get more wood, search for plants, roots and fruits. They always rotated, so today was the Fox's turn to 'watch' over the base. Not that there was ever another person stumbling over their tree.

The summon was sitting close eyed and tried to meditate. Since the day they ended up in this colourful shithole Tenko was not able to do this task. Something kept side-tracking her no matter the effort and she never found the cause. This place stank all the same, there were very little noises and with her eyes closed Tenko had no visible distractions.  
So why could she not meditate?

Every single time her mind wandered away from finding her calm centre, Tenko could feel a strange push – just like the chakra fluctuation, it came from inside.  
Normally, frustration resulted in Tenko giving up sooner or later for the last two weeks, but today the fox felt strangely confident in her ability to finally meditate.

For the last hour Tenko did nothing but sit, take calm breaths and slip right past her meditation state. The building frustration was of no help and not knowing how else to help herself, the summon let out the anger with a flare of chakra.

Then everything went silent, scentless, dark and Tenko was no longer sitting in a tree but standing in a strange, poorly lighted place.  
Tenko looked around without a clue to what had just happened to her.

"Oh god, please tell me, I did not throw myself into another dimension?!" The possibility frightened her, but why would it happen now? Tenko had flared her chakra on multiple occasions around the kids and their sensei and none of them did another dimension skip.

Forcing herself to take a deep breath, Tenko took her surroundings in, or better, what little she was able to make out.

The ground she was standing on reminded the fox of an abyss, the endless darkness going down with no end in sight, but she still stood on solid ground. Her feet stood on the black dirt with toes buried in –

Wait, what? Toes?  
Immediately Tenko looked down on herself. Indeed, she was back in her human form with legs, and arms, and toes and thumbs and naked skin under red clothes.

There seemed to be no water or mirror around, just dark, hart earth and bunches of red-ish glowing weeds. On closer inspection, the now-woman could see the weeds were not only glowing in the dark, but they also had no real solid form. Daring to touch one, Tenko felt nothing but…. Chakra.

Why was there a dark place with plants made of red chakra? Had Tenko finally lost her grip on reality?  
She rose from the ground and where once was nothing but a dark area was now a wooden house with many chakra weeds growing around it.  
No, not house. A shabby shed with old planks, rusty nails and a crooked sliding door barely holding on to the small building. It could not be bigger than Naruto's old apartment size.

'_Who would live in such a place?_'

Slowly, carefully, Tenko took hesitant steps towards the poor excuse of a house. Her chakra had changed from its strong flowing river to the thin creek of tough liquid. She may have hands now, but this didn't mean much for her skills in self-defence.

Reaching the door, Tenko took hold of the door, but before she was able to push it open, she could suddenly hear a growl, deep and strong, resonating from the walls of the house and vibrating through the wood.

"**You finally decided to show up, you little shit.**" The voice was just as strong and deep as the growl has been, reminding Tenko from her conversations with the Kyuubi. Stopped in her motion and frowned.

An enemy wouldn't address an intruder and didn't tell you they had expected you to come around, right? And what was it with those insults?  
Finally finding her strength, Tenko pushed open the door to see who had talked to her.

The doom was dimly lit with candles, but their flames had the same colour as the weeds. The house consisted of one room, in its middle laid a dark red rug of thick material, the candles circling it.  
The voice belonged to a man who sat cross-legged on the rug. His clothes consisted of an old, green yukata with a black obi and over his shoulders and spread around him rested a dark grey cloak. They all were old and had seen better days, maybe a hundred years ago?

The man himself was huge and Tenko was sure he would reach the two-metre mark if he stood up. His hair reached the middle of his torso in black strands and while obeying gravity they gave the man a wild look. His lower face was covered in stubbles as if he hadn't seen a razor in two weeks.  
The man's face was hard-edged, long and a grim expression stood fixed on his features. Dark eyes bored themselves into Tenko and they told her everything she needed to know.

This man hated her.

Swallowing, the fox-woman decided not to step into the man's house.  
"How do you know me?"  
The grim expression gained a darker tone and a grimace of anger accompanied another deep growl.

"**Because you are the one who imprisoned me in this ratty shithole."**

"Wh-what? Imprisoned? I?" A sake cup suddenly flew towards Tenko and hadn't she dodged, It would have landed in her face.

"**Who else am I talking about, you filthy body-thief?"**

Tenko rubbed her hands over her face and tried to make sense of anything she just saw or heard in the last minute. Why did everybody seem to throw her into conversations with strangers who accused her of leeching chakra and now stealing a body?  
This man, whoever he was, had made no attempt to stand up and beat her up, which made Tenko assume he wasn't able to leave this place.

"Can we rewind this conversation? It doesn't make any sense. How am I a body-thief? Or imprisoned you? Where even _are_ we?" He grunted and looked at Tenko like a heap of garbage.

"**You lock up my soul, take over my body, let me rot in this room and have the gal to play the innocent?"**

With a thud Tenko let herself fall into a sitting position. What was the man talking about? How did he come to the conclusion that Tenko was at fault? Why did she end up in those situations which were absolutely bonkers?

"**Shut up already, you son of a bitch." The man spat at his unwilling visitor. **

"Did I say those things out loud?" Tenko looked at the man in question, but his last comment had been answer enough.  
Whatever was going on here, she wanted to be able to understand what was going on.  
"I have no idea what you are talking about, mister. I never imprisoned anybody or stole a body or whatever. Maybe you are confusing me with someone else?"

"**I am not! This is your mind space we are in. Deep inside **_**my**_** body which you took over when you forced me into this god-damn shed. I have been here for **_**months**_** and no matter what you keep me here, imprisoned in my own fucking body. Every day I see you walking around with my body or waste your time with those fucking brats. You even broke my leg, you bitch!"** He yelled loudly and with every word, his rage became more powerful. The wooden walls started rattling with the leaked chakra and killing intend the man let out. The door nearly fell off and the wooden ground creaked and groaned.  
But the shabby house still stood.

"**No matter how much I try, your fucking walls don't fall. But now you are here and cannot ignore me anymore. Leave my body already!"**

Tenko took another quick look around and had to confirm his statement for herself.  
It was true. The violent shaking did nothing to the wood, where it usually would have bursted into pieces from the sheer power of the attack.  
Then Tenko noticed something else. The man w breathing heavier than before. So, using his chakra was very exhausting to him? The woman did not understand too much about chakra and what amount you exactly needed for what effect, but this could not be enough to tire a grown person out. Or had it something to do with the imprisonment he was talking about?

"Well, I can see the shed still standing, but it still doesn't mean _I_ am responsible for this."

"**You still have the audacity to lie directly into my face?! You ripped me away from my body and insult any and all fox summon by calling yourself one, just because you took mine over! I am the true summon, a two-tails who earned his rang, not some mediocre imposter without any talents in the arts of the foxes."**

Tenko went silent and had to think back to the Kyuubi.  
He was just as enraged with her as this man was. Without any intention she had started to leech on the fox demon's chakra, stealing it, if you will out of necessity to live.  
Not this man accused her of all those unbelievable things. And wanted his body back, which was understandable.

"Hypothetically, if this was your body. What would happen to me if you got it back?" He shrugged his shoulders in indifference.

"**You'd die, of course. With your death I can claim back my body. There is no being without a body or** **chakra."** Tenko paled.  
**"Why do you think I always tried to kill you?"**

"What?!" Tenko croaked with her mouth feeling dry.

"**Are you really that stupid? You want me to draw you pictures, you fucking thief? You did not use a seal but some other method I have no knowledge about. If you die, I can still live and get my body back. So, I have to kill you or get you killed.  
Cutting my own body off my chakra to have you die of chakra exhaustion was not enough, since you absorb it from somewhere else. I don't know who it is, but their chakra is too powerful for me to repel. So all I could do was gather enough chakra to slow down your training developments. A human body is not fit to work with a fox's chakra system. And since I am a prisoner, I can only hold up enough chakra to hold your transformation for one week, stop your training and hope you die in an accident. But what do you do? Of course, get some more of that fucking potent chakra and survive the week.  
Even the second try in Wave wasn't enough to kill you. So, when you started jutsu training I tried to blow you up with the backlash or at least slow your development. And then you dare and try out fox fire, a summon's technique. I was sure to kill you this time.  
But, of course, I didn't have enough chakra to burn you alive and our mixed chakra transports you into another dimension.  
God damn it. Some god of luck must be playing favouritism."**

.

Tenko sat in the open door of the shed and listened to the rant of the man claiming to be the body's truthful owner. The more she heard him talk, the more did he confirm his statements. And the insight about Tenko's body and her problems with it. He talked about the exact times he disrupted her chakra control, when and why he managed to turn her human and that he just hadn't enough chakra where he got the possibility to blow her up with fox fire.  
All to kill Tenko and get back his body. Because in comparison to Naruto and Kyuubi they had no seal, the man – no, the fox summon – could continue living without Tenko around.

One interesting aspect was the chakra in this- what did he call this place? Mind space?  
Anyways, the candles circling the man seemed to be the barrier the man was talking about. They were the prison which he could not get out of.  
Candles burning with the Kyuubi's chakra. And it was not only the candles. The weeds outside the shed seemed to exist for the same purpose.

Tenko once again rubbed her face in hopes of somehow making any sense or to deal with the new information.

"So… you expect me to kill myself now to take your body back? And I have no chance to get my original body back?"

"**It must be long dead and rotten by now but yes, I want you to release me and give me back what is rightfully mine."**

"Oh god." Tenko took another deep breath. "Somehow sharing is not possible? You know, taking turns to control your body?" A loud, mocking laughter echoed through the small room.

"**You fucking wish. Never."**

Tenko bit her lip and stared down at the ground in concentration. This was not how she expected there two-day-survival-trip to work out at all.

Then she noticed something only a few armlengths away from her inside the room. A small metal box with no welding seam or lid. It was far enough from Tenko to not reach it without stepping into the shed – which she did not dare to do – but also too far from the man- or true fox summon.

"What is that?"

"**How should I know? I cannot open it and it is yours."**

"Mine?"

"**Do I stutter? Yes, yours."**

"… Oh." Tenko didn't want to ask more. The man looked ready to explode of annoyance and anger.

She went back to brooding over her problem at hand. She could not give the man back his body without dying or getting back into her old one, whichever that was. Staying in the man's body would only result in him being held captive longer and trying to kill her off again and again.  
Was this the payment for Danzo's death? An eye for an eye? Danzo's life for Tenko's?

She just got a life, without any memories of her past, with a blonde, chaotic roommate and best friend. Team 7 finally changed from a grumpy emo-kid, a fangirl and a socially unskilled sensei into a real unit. Her life finally turned out to be fine without Danzo and better living conditions for Naruto and her. Hell, the kids were about to enter the Chunin exam and et started in their ninja career.

But this body did not belong to Tenko. It belonged to the true two-tailed fox summon with the powers worthy of his rang. This body was not hers to possess, walk around in, live the life she was not supposed to live. Her existence, this life with the people she met, this was not hers. She was a thief. A thief who stole chakra from a fox demon and the body of a fox summon.  
A thief who stood in her own mind space, originally for meditation, and was talking to the man she stole his body and life from.  
Shame and guilt were only two emotions flooding her body.

This made Tenko swallow and she slowly looked up at her prisoner. Not ready to speak, she took in an audible breath. And another one.

"I-I," Tenko stuttered. "I am sorry, I took over your body and locked you up in here, mister. This has never been my intention. I hate violence, you know? Th-that's why I have so much trouble fitting in with everybody."  
Tenko had to take another deep breath and calm her nerves.

"But I am sorry, I want to live, so, I cannot give you back your body." A deep growling resonated through Tenko.

"**You bitch decide to put your selfish little interest over mine and my right of my body?!"** Tenko nodded.

"I do."  
With this Tenko consciously broke her meditation state and opened her eyes, being back in the dimension with red leaves, blue wood and yellow earth.


	17. Chapter 17

_Day twenty-one_

By now Team 7 had easily found themselves in a new routine. In the morning they would run laps and occasionally pause to collect some berries they came across. Then the whole team would eat breakfast, usually whatever meat they had left from the evening with the fruits and drink hot river water with sliced roots in it as a substitute for tea.

Kakashi would make them do drills and spar against each other for five to six hours and build in exercises specific for every Genin. Sakura was doing physical exercises and practice her chakra control with Tenko, Sasuke started learning new fire jutsu as well as D-rang lightning jutsu, all of which Kakashi had copied from past enemies and Naruto was mostly taught taijutsu and ninjutsu of the earth, water and fire element. Lightning was nothing the boy managed to do and Kakashi had no jutsu to do with wind chakra.

The copy-ninja had no access to chakra paper to find out about their elemental affinities, but by trial and error the man could make a good guess which of his students had which elemental affinity. Sasuke most likely had affinities towards lightning and fire (obviously), Sakura towards earth and water and Naruto towards wind.  
Sadly, this was the element Kakashi could not really help his blonde student with and never before had he cursed himself so much for not copying or observing Asuma with his sharingan. The only possibility Kakashi had was to teach the boy a variety of jutsus and have him start on cutting a leaf with wind.

Tenko was not showing any affinity. How should the fox? No jutsu had worked until now and Kakashi didn't know which element fox summons typically were best at.  
His educated guess, judging by fox fire, went with said element, but none of those jutsu worked. So, chakra control exercises it was for the fox. And meditation, lots and lots of meditation. But for the first two weeks Tenko was not able to meditate and then she suddenly only pretended to, while taking deep breaths and play around with the chakra in her body.

Around noon, the training session ended, and - in rotation - two people had to make lunch.  
The meal was taken together as well, before everybody was allowed to do whatever they wanted in a two-mile radius without starting a wildfire, earthquake, flood or destroying the forest.  
Kakashi used the time for his usual mourning, but without the memorial stone he felt a strange lightness whenever he had his alone-time.

The stone was reminding him of all the people he had failed, the death, the pain, his mistakes. The carved-in names would never make him forget who exactly he let down in his past.  
Here he had no visual reminder, only yellow rocks smelling like soap. Somewhere the Jonin was amused by this fact and Kakashi found it in himself, to take the chance and time he was given with his team. A new opportunity to get things right.  
Mourning took shorter periods and slowly changed into remembering the lives, shared memories and then their deaths. Without the names in the stone, remembering did not hurt as much as it always did.

All the time Team 7 spend around each other caused Kakashi to slowly feel more comfortable and better around the children. Of course, in Konoha they had been training and seeing one another every day, but never had they spend much more time together after their training sessions and missions.

Now, everybody had to live together 24/7 and they learned many new things in the last twenty days. More than in the months before.

.

Tenko had to be the biggest surprise out of the bunch and was also the first to confess one of her troubles. It happened just over a week ago after Team 7 came back to their base from doing chores with Tenko having to watch their tree.

She had acted strangely, like the last two days, was hesitant to say whatever bothered her and when she busted it out, nobody knew what to do.  
To everyone's credit, when one of your teammates confesses to have accidentally taken over a summon's body and holding its owner captive in their mind space, there was no standard procedure or regulation on how to react.

Tenko then admitted to only say this, because she had promised Naruto to not keep important things secret from him after the last mishap. She was referring to the Danzo-issue, but Sakura and Sasuke didn't have to know about it.

Naruto's only functioning ability seemed to blink his eyes in utter confusion. Sakura was stuck between opening and closing her mouth while frowning and looking at everybody for help. Kakashi himself did not know how to react but he would bet he was doing something similar to Naruto while his brain worked overtime, connecting and comparing facts about Tenko with the new information.

Sasuke was silent for a minute and then asked: "You are not giving his body back?"

"No. No, I won't. I don't want to die and this way we are both alive and- and- and I know-, I _know_ morally I am in the wrong, but I want to live. Can that be so wrong?"

"I don't know, this never happened before, I guess. Or heard of. But it _is_ selfish of you." This comment made Naruto explode.

"Teme! I don't want to hear this coming from you. And Tenko would _die_! FUCKING DIE!" He accidentally threw his dinner out of the tree while gesticulating violently.

"Dope, I never said she should die. Pull your head out of your ass and listen. I just said that Tenko now consciously keeps some fox summon prisoner in his own body whether or not she had intended to do it in the first place or not."

"A-and what do we do now? I mean, we have to protect Tenko from dying, but the danger lives inside of her." Silence.

"Sakura, good question. Maybe I should try fox fire again to get us back home and we ask Hokage-sama to seal the fox guy. Then he cannot do any more murder attempts." Tenko tried to make up a plan, but she noticed that she was bad at coming up with good ideas.

Kakashi scratched his head.  
"You can't just seal off someone in their own body and you keep him somewhere in your mind. I don't know if a seal for such a thing exists. For now we can't do anything to help Tenko. As long as we are stuck here, at least. But the moment we manage to get back home, we will go to Hokage-sama and figure out a plan."

"At least now we know, why Tenko sucks more than the dead last," Sasuke said while managing to not give any emotion away. How did the boy keep his cool after Tenko's confession, anyways? Was this another Uchuha-thing?  
No matter the information or how unreal it sounds, always keep calm and be an Uchiha?

In hindsight, Kakashi added the body-takeover to the list of problems, complications and issues Tenko attracted, caused or got pulled into.  
He was not getting paid enough for all the stuff Kakashi had to deal with.

.

Naruto had a good surprise for his teammates as well. For all his loudness and talent to annoy, the kid could be quiet as the dead. The only one not baffled was Tenko, who must have seen the boy like this before.

If Kakashi remembered correctly, the wild Uzumaki had a very loud and restless day, and his team were there to witness. Naruto couldn't stand still, he was clumsier and his whispers were loud enough to ring in the fox's ears. In the afternoon Sasuke and Sakura couldn't take/ignore/evade it anymore and they had started yelling and cursing in so much vigour to make Gai jealous.

Along the lines the Uchiha said something like: "No wonder everybody avoids you in Konoha or every shinobi would be deaf."

The kids did not know why Naruto was an outcast or about the Kyuubi, but Naruto did and intended or not, this was a big emotional wound for the blonde boy. Combined with their recent living arrangements without a way back home in sight, everyone had their days to overreact or take things more personal than they should.

He had let out a dry chuckle, stared at the ground and said: "Right, everybody avoids me." He then hid himself up in their base and made no sound for the rest of the day.  
Tenko had felt the need to bite the last Uchiha and went up as well to give her friend comfort.

The two Genin and Kakashi slept on another tree that night after Tenko asked them to stay away for the night. Naruto hasn't been able to pull himself out of the mentally dark place for hours – the kids thankfully didn't ask their sensei why Naruto reacted the way he did and they could hear low whispers until the annoying sun started to become brighter once again.

Naruto had decided to tell his teammates about the Kyuubi after breakfast, much fiddling around with words, hunching posture, drawn-up shoulders and everything. The poor boy was afraid of his team's rejection and all the stuttering and mumbling forced him to repeat himself.

Kakashi was sure the person the S-class secret was about could not be punished for telling and Naruto had told them willingly.  
He would have preferred the Hokage allowing the Jonin to have this conversation after Wave, but Sarutobi-sama said it was too early.

To Kakashi's surprise, the last Uchiha (once again) was the first to talk and instead of a feisty comment or insult, the kid _thanked_ Naruto for telling them. Seriously, was there something in the water that made the Uchiha-genes soften? Did he eat some poisonous berries to make him talk more?

Tenko took her time to make clear that the seal held the fox demon captive and Naruto was a whole different person. Three times.

Sakura slowly processed the new information and after connecting the Kyuubi to the treatment Naruto had to live through in Konoha, the girl started crying while hugging the boy fiercely.

Their sensei kept quiet, but he gave them all an eye-smile of approval for accepting their teammate and showing teamwork. Maybe his wish for their future would be more possible than he thought?

In the following days Naruto grew more self-confident and comfortable around his team and it made him show his softer side - how much he truly understood people's emotions and what a great listener and conversationalist he was.  
The bad joke about the fox demon being rude for not paying rent, of course made by Tenko, helped the kids feel more open and ask questions about Naruto's life and circumstances.

The blonde boy's ninja skills also started to develop faster with Sasuke and Sakura offering more explanations and time to understand the theoretical side of jutsus, when they heard about Naruto's great lack in education.

.

Sasuke had his emotional outing the opposite way two days ago, completely on accident. Where Naruto had his by becoming silent and searching isolation, the Uchiha was loud and emotional.

He was practicing his clan's katas after their joint morning exercises and was lost in his own thoughts. With every day passing the need for vengeance fuelled his ongoing inner conflict.

On the one hand, Sasuke should concentrate on the goal to get stronger, be the avenger he had claimed to be, on the other hand he noticed how pleasant their slowly tight-knitted group was to be around.  
He was used to the dark, lonely hours, the pitiful glances from the villagers, the false image everybody projected on the last Uchiha and the expectations.

His brother had ordered him to become a hateful avenger, become strong enough to kill. And he has been fine with it for the past five years.  
Isolating himself from people, not depending, not bonding, not feeling. And he was fine. Yes, he was fine with it. All he had to do was grow powerful enough to kill his own brother. It would finally erase the deep loss and give him the salvation he yearned for.

But here, none of that existed. Nothing of his life had followed him to this dimension.

Sure, Sakura still had some moments when her adoration for the boy was a bit on the fangirl-side, but they became rare. Maybe being around each other so much did that to people?

Naruto never showed him pity but a sense of rivalry and wish for friendship, Kakashi-sensei didn't either. The man seriously was the last person to throw Sasuke a pity-party.  
He had expectations and pushed Sasuke in their drills, but those expectations weren't based on the Uchiha clan or the idea who Sasuke was for the public but him as an individual person. No Uchiha but Sasuke.

Tenko was a similar case to Naruto, without pity but their – dared Sasuke to say – acquaintanceship turning friendship started building on the emotional side.  
She often took note of the team's moods and their needs, offered hugs, cuddles and warmth. The fox had started to be even more affectionate than she was before their dimension skip and every time the dark thoughts about the Uchiha massacre and his brother's last command caught up she was there.

Sasuke started to see her around every team member once in a while, mostly, when worry, sadness, fear, homesickness could be seen in the kids' faces. Living together in such a close space everybody could easily see who the fox was comforting at any time of the day, but none of them ever judged.

Not, when Sakura silently sobbed into the fox's fur when she was missing her parents.  
Not, when Naruto needed her to cuddle and get affection the boy was starved off all his life.  
Not, when Kakashi gave the summon a pat on the head or stroked her fur when it was his watch at night and the children were supposed to sleep.

Not, when Sasuke curled himself around the fox after a gruesome nightmare for hours, or he scratched behind her ears, or absent-mindedly let his hands caress her soft fur after a spar.

The Uchiha boy finished his last kata for the day and went to the river to wash his face, when he noticed his reflection in the liquid.  
The sharingan was activated by the inner turmoil of emotions and for one moment, Sasuke did not see himself on the water's surface but his brother.  
There was nothing left of the little boy Sasuke once was. He turned into a second Itachi. Without emotions, without bonds or hesitation to kill friend or foe.

Unstoppable rage boiled up and without thinking, he started throwing those ugly, yellow rocks into the water to erase his image. Sasuke sat on his knees and screamed at his own face, stabbing the water with a knife made of bone.

"Go away! Go _away!_ I am not like you! I. Am. NOT. Like. You! You are a murderer! So why? Why do you want me to become like you! AHHH!"

He trashed around in blind rage, still stabbing the river in hope to make his own face vanish.  
As a small child, Itachi was his hero, the one person he looked up to. But now? Now he was still running after him, but to kill, not to adore. To do what his brother did to their family. Their clan.  
Sasuke did not want that. Not really. This was just another expectation. One that his brother forced upon him.

"Ducking," a quiet and soft voice interrupted his racing mind and the boy stopped his hand from hitting the water.  
His sense of hearing came back first, his rapid breathing filled his ears. Then he noticed the dark yellow ground around him, wet from the water. Sasuke's clothes were drenched, cold.

He raised his head and looked at the fox, sitting near him. An image of the villagers flashed through Sasuke's mind. Pity, worry, expectations, greed of his status, the idea what Sasuke should be.  
But Tenko's eyes were filled with none of those, just like Naruto. She looked into his eyes with patience and understanding she mostly held for Naruto when he had a bad day or craved affection.

"This is your life, make your own decisions." It was all the summon said after a short pause, then she was silent and kept her distance - for Sasuke to decide whether or not he wanted her comfort.  
And the boy reached out without thinking, pulling the animal against himself, trapping her in his arms with too much strength.  
But Tenko stood still and rested her head on the boy's shoulder.

After some time Sasuke started to calm down and take in their surroundings. Team 7.  
His peers were sitting far enough to give a sense of privacy, but their watchful eyes laid on him, as did Kakashi's. There was no pity either, only the wish to be on Sasuke's side and support him in his moments of weakness.

The last Uchiha decided to give in to the wish for this team of misfits, of people so different from one another but still similar. He did not have to give up on killing Itachi, but for now he just wanted to be with the people around him.

Needless to say, in the evening he was back being the Sasuke they all knew. With short "hn's" for answers, sassy remarks and all.  
The walls around his emotions were pulled up for the next 24 hours and he avoided everyone to his best abilities, sorting out what had happened and how emotional he was on accident.

He was embarrassed, but after a tactless joke from Naruto about Sasuke's allergy to feelings and them beating each other up in a spar, everything felt back into their usual routine.

.

Sakura did not have a big emotional outing or completely new revelation to share, because she threw many small fits whenever their living arrangements became too much for her to handle.

By now they were all accustomed to it and Kakashi had to admit, the girl probably dealt with her emotions in the healthiest way possible. She tried to follow the rules and be an emotionless shinobi, or kunoichi, but she was wearing her heart on her sleeves, just like Naruto did for the most part. Anger, frustration, sadness – every negative emotion found its outlet after some time and could not eat the girl away from the inside.

Kakashi had to agree with the boys, Sakura's fits could be amusing from time to time, like the one time she couldn't bear to see the colour of the ground anymore and got grass from the meadows for a colour change. Five minutes later the girl was shaking the Uchiha boy violently until he used his fireball jutsu to burn it all away, because, according to Sakura, red and violet was worse than red and yellow.

Or the one time she let out her frustration about her developing dislike for boar meat on a fully grown boar that was at the wrong place at the wrong time. She beat the animal up and accidentally broke its neck with a chakra infused punch.  
They were eating boar meat for the next five days thanks to her kill.

Team 7 started taking bets about the next trigger of Sakura's violent rage fests or what funny consequence might result in it. It became scary how accurately Naruto was to come up with silly stories about why and how Sakura would burst out.

.

But spending so much time together gave Team 7 the need to spend some time separate from one another, too.  
Too much proximity caused friction and more than once did a stupid fight break out. Even Kakashi had snapped at the kids once or twice, but luckily everybody knew that nothing was to be taken personally.

The one-time Sakura had an outburst and yelled at Sasuke for not storing the hunting tools away as neatly as the girl expected everyone to do, stunned silence had followed.  
Not only because she turned in banshee-mode against the Uchiha boy, but she also used her special Naruto-sucker-punch against the boy and send him flying into the next tree.  
With chakra infusion.

**.**

_Day thirty-one_

A month. They have been surviving in this stupid dimension for a god damn whole month now.  
Team 7 let out a long, loud sigh.

"Well, this sucks." Naruto offered his summary of the situation, matching those of his teammates.

"Yeah, but let's try and see the positive aspects, shall we?" Everybody gave Tenko a sceptical look saying one word. _Positive_?

"Well, I mean… We have been surviving here with such a short number of weapons and learned how to make new ones from bones and stuff. And our survival skills did skyrocket through the roof. Sakura finally has a healthy weight and good amount of muscles for a kunoichi, her chakra levels rose, and she is better at using her strength in spars now. Sasuke and Naruto, excuse my vocabulary, are ripped from all the heavy lifting and work-out Kakashi-sensei made everyone do."

"How is it you apologise for 'ripped', but not all the swear words you regularly use?" Sakura's question was ignored.

"-You can easily best the other Rockie 9 now! Sasuke, you have learned over ten new fire jutsus and your speed is fucking insane. And you are getting better with your sharingan-thingy."

"Hn!"

"Naruto got way better with his chakra control, he learned new water, earth and fire jutsus and he started practicing this wind-element-leaf-splitting-exercise. And Kakashi-sensei, you can finally keep a conversation with us going for fifteen minutes and learned a few things for your social skills on your old days! I mean, you were a good enough ninja to begin with."

Said man let out a chuckle.  
"Maa, thank you, Tenko-chan." She grinned back.

"You are very welcome."

"If we stay on the positivity-trail, we should consider your developments, too." Sakura suggested.

"Yeah! You have the tree and water walking exercise down like a pro, Tenko!" Naruto beamed at his smaller friend, making the pink-haired girl nod. Her short hair bobbed with the motion. Kakashi had cut her hair just two days ago and the pixie cut looked even better on the second try. Still slightly uneven, but better.

"Precisely. And you may not have nailed any new jutsus by now, but you helped me fight off the small group of boars on out last hunt. Your speed has increased, and you can dodge Naruto-kun, Sasuke-sun and myself for one hour straight until our blonde stamina beast in the last one standing."

Feeling slightly embarrassed at the kind praise, Tenko averted her eyes shortly, before cuddling the Genins' legs.  
"Thanks, guys."

"Hn, you idiots forgot the most obvious part." Sasuke said and instead of the traditional lout outburst from Naruto or hurt expression on Sakura's face both peers just raised their eyebrows in an awaiting manner.  
"Tenko somehow managed to make us not try and kill each other every day or get too annoyed with her damn affection and even Kakashi-sensei shows some emotions now."

Everyone let their eyes wander around the group, before Naruto tilted his head to the side.  
"Huh, you are right, teme. You even talk in whole sentences now." The usual heat for the use of the insult was also gone by now.  
Kakashi could only agree.

"And it only took us one month trapped in a different dimension," Sakura commented, making the fox snort out and loudly bark out a short laugh.

"Duckling, you are about to turn into a beautiful swan who celebrates his emotions with the flock." Said boy let out an amused "hn".

"You wish."

.

_Day thirty-nine_

When the stupid Kakashi-sun, as Naruto had dared to dub the dimmed disc in the green sky officially, was getting darker and darker, the children got ready to sleep. Today was another laundry day, so the boys had no shirt left and the last clean-ish piece of clothing, Kakashi's top, was given to Sakura, as usual.  
The boys wrapped the boar furs around them and Kakashi would bet to find them all asleep on one pile in one hour. Tenko always managed to lay on top and not get squished under furs and Genin bodies.

In the morning Sasuke has been the first to wake up and get ready for the day. He would, once again, pull himself out of the pile of limbs and pretend not to have been part of it.  
Being a secret cuddler still hurt his pride to a great extent.

Kakashi sat on his outlook-branch and watched the last shades of green sky turn dark with the last sunshine disappearing.  
Sasuke's comment still lingered in his mind and the Jonin not only found himself agreeing with the Uchiha's statement, but also adding more aspects.

Whereas Sakura was the binding link between Naruto and Sasuke from the moment Team 7 was formed, Tenko became the one to connect the Genin and their sensei with her emotional support und social understanding.  
Kakashi was lacking in this department, everybody knew this. Hell, even the last Genin in Kumo could possibly know this.  
It caused the Jonin to question their team's dynamics.

What would have happened, hadn't Tenko taken over the fox summon's body and became Naruto's companion?  
How would the team interact with one another?  
Would they be able to develop the sense of friendship like it did in the last month?  
Would the Genin be on a higher skill level without Tenko's chakra problems?  
Would the kids be as emotionally comfortable as they were right now?  
Would their team be making the same progress, maybe with a bit more time?

Of course, Tenko was no miracle worker and more often than not did Sasuke start to fall back into his old behaviour to pull up his walls at personal questions or while interacting. A bit of coaxing could help the boy by now, but he still had a visible conflict with his own wants and needs and what he was living for until recently.

Sakura still sucker punched Naruto into next Wednesday when she had enough of the blonde boy or when he made a too harsh comment about Sasuke. Sometimes the girl was still caught up in her day dreaming, mostly on laundry day when the boys had to walk around without a shirt on. But she stayed true to her resolution to be useful and carry her own weight for her team.

Naruto very slowly but surely learned how to be around his teammates without having to be a smiling ray of sunlight even when he felt down or had a bad day. The smiling façade was not necessary when with Team 7.  
This was a rule Kakashi and everybody else reminded Naruto off repeatedly.

Kakashi himself had changed, too. Nothing world changing, but he could by now easily give head pats and hair ruffles or praise his students without feeling odd or worry if a compliment should sound nicer.  
One night the Jonin even held Sakura when she had a bad case of homesickness. Okay, Sakura had come to the man and buried her face in his shoulder to muffle her crying. But he had wrapped one arm around the shaking girl. And awkwardly patted her hair until she fell asleep and Tenko allowed herself to be misused as a therapy cushion to cling on to.

The kids started to learn about the man as well, about his poor social skills, that he needed some time for himself in a religious manner. The mourning part became an open secret early on, but the children, even Naruto, had enough tact to not mention this part or ask questions.  
Kakashi noticed that the depressing thoughts and self-hate were slowly replaced with times of conversation, smiling faces and even jokes.

And then there was Tenko herself.  
She had strongly warmed up to the children and Kakashi, even before their location skip. Her emotional support and comfort outweighed her ninja skills any time of the day.

What she lacked in fighting she had added in empathy and the will to selflessly offer her body and soft fur against children's tears. Sasuke had commented on this once. The strongest weakness of the fox was not only her total lack in ninja skills, but her weakness against sad children. This could make her open for manipulation.

Kakashi would partially argue against this, because empathy was a trait too much underestimated, especially in the ninja business.  
Sure, it could be ignored in case of danger, but Tenko would still be utterly helpless if dodging, biting and tree-walking couldn't get her out of the situation.

What gave Kakashi a stomach-ache was the newest development concerning her fox summon status. They all decided to still call her exactly that for now, since the body and her skillset was the still the same.

She had accidentally taken over the body of a two-tailed fox and did not seem as ashamed or conflicted as the copy-ninja expected Tenko to be.  
Typically, she was companionate and very respectful with other people's feelings. To downright accept and live with a prisoner in her mind was completely new to the man.

He once tried to talk with the fox about it, but she brushed his advances off and went back to train with the children. Every other question about the topic became a taboo around her and Kakashi's students all obeyed this one rule made by Tenko.

.

The next morning, Tenko gave another routine check around the clearing, before she heard Sasuke detach himself from the kids' sleeping arrangements. Even the hardest sleep-cuddler could be rivalled by the Uchiha kid.

"Good morning, duckling," she said in a low voice, not to wake their teammates up, but judging Kakashi's many years of active service, the squeak of a mouse could catapult the man into high alert, so he would be up in the next few seconds.

Sasuke dragged his feet a bit, gave Tenko a pat on the head and slowly walked down the tree to wash his face and mentally prepare himself for the morning jog.

In the next fifteen minutes every member entered the world of the living. By then Sasuke had gathered all their dry clothes from the surrounding branches and neatly folded them. The boy was chosen to be the clean-clothes-folding-person, because everyone else would not do it 'the right way' or to the high standard Sasuke wanted his shirts to be treated.

Sakura started preparing the roots to be added into boiled water for their disgusting morning tea, but by now everything was better than river water smelling like scent-erasing soap.

Tenko would make the bet to never see the soap in any of their bathrooms ever again.

"Tenkoooo. I don't want to wake up." Naruto started complaining from under the blue-yellow boar fur, like every morning.

"Move your ass, Naruto-kun. I don't want to do the extra push-ups just because of you." Sakura hissed up the tree in false anger. This became too much of a routine for everyone. Same thing could be said about the children's complains about Kakashi being late.

Naruto dragged himself down the tree and dunked his head into the cold river water to fully wake up. Again, like every morning.

"Naruto, the day we get back home I will persuade Hokage-sama to give you twenty all-you-can-eat-coupons for Ichiraku's ramen if you stop this act from now on." As soon as the last word was said, Naruto wrapped the fox into a bone crushing hug.

"Tenko, you are THE BEST! You were sent by the mighty ramen gods! Oh, yes, yes, yes! RAMEN! You are godsend!" Naruto ran off their usual route and with silent complains Sakura and Sasuke followed after their blonde teammate.

'_Godsend? There is at least one being who'd beg to differ, still locked up in a shed.'_

To not crash the children's light mood, Kakashi decided to keep his opinion to himself.  
Happiness could be short-lived, so why not enjoy it for as long as possible?

**.**

_Day forty-three_

Kakashi ordered the Genin to practice their newest jutsus and went over to a tree for some rest. The Chunin exam should be over by now and the newest members joining the rang.  
The copy-ninja felt sorry because of the lost opportunity for his cute little Genin. They would be able to rock the exam by now, he was sure of it. The immense development his students went through could not be challenged by the other Rockies. Not a chance.

Kakashi never understood why and how the Jonin of Genin teams would brag about their students' accomplishments, where they insignificant compared to the whole ninja career.  
Now he understood.

Every day Naruto came nearer to splitting the leaf, Sasuke talked a few more words, Sakura managed to do a push-up more than the day before and Tenko could bite his thickly wrapped up limbs with less hesitation in a spar, Kakashi saw the obvious results of their hard work.

The moment he entered Konoha, he would drum up all the sensei and acquaintances he knew in a bar and brag about his Genin team, what they lived through, how much each one matured and improved themselves.

He would rub their rapid accomplishments under Gai's nose and challenge him to all those matches he missed in over forty days. Walking around Konoha in a handstand or on their butt cheeks included.  
He would show off his students' weapon throwing skills to Genma and mock his little senbon.  
He would let Kiba compete against Tenko in a tracking match and throw shade over the Inuzuka clan, ignoring their previous help.  
He would boast about their advanced survival skills and ability to make weapons out of every single bone a hare had, give Anko a mocking grin and make everyone take a walk through the Forest of Death on a Sunday afternoon, while his cute little Genin fought off each and every creature around them.

After bragging about Team 7 for a whole day, Kakashi would burn the ninja-soap-factory to the ground and ban their product for eternity. And then forbid every colour more vibrant or flashy than light brown.

Kakashi felt content with this silly plan of his and closed his eyes for a short nap.  
Training his little protegees every day, overseeing their individual training, making sure they would not end up in any surprise attack, keeping every first watch and sending one shadow clone out every night to keep searching for a way out of this place, Kakashi was one thing. Tired.

**.**

_Day forty-seven_

Today was a bad day for Team 7.  
Those only happened four times before and would start with the brightening sun only to finally end with the dimming light.

Not really knowing about the dimension's rules, there had to be a cycle all animals followed. Kakashi had no idea what exactly made them all turn into rapid monsters, but once in a while every living creature would lose their mind and attack them.

Running away, fighting, throwing around jutsus like it was nobody's business, killing, hiding. All day would be spend doing those things and no group member had more than ten minutes of rest, before some animal found them in any possible hiding place.

Would it just be a couple of rabbits and boars, Team 7 could easily manage. Not, when every single bird, every mammal, every insect and reptile attacked them all at once. And the snakes, oh, the snakes. Orochimaru would make a happy-dance if he ever saw those damn beasts appear out of thin air to try and poison them.

The only thing Kakashi and Sasuke were able to notice – thanks to the sharingan – was the strangely high level of chakra in the animals' systems.

On the day they rampaged and tried to kill the humans plus fox summon their chakra levels sky-rocketed and they were able to _jump up_ the trees. Even the boars. Especially the boars.

Not wanting to kill every living creature and then having to possibly starve to death in this place, Team 7 did their best to evade, dodge and redirect every attack with the killing limit of two animals each if possible.

Today was another bad day and for the last five hours the children were running, jumping, fighting and hiding more than ever.  
Whatever made the animals go wild and aggressive, it was the worst this time around.

Tenko always kept close to the kids and played decoy when the children needed the short moments of rest they could get until she was snatched away by Sasuke or Kakashi, who had the best speed.

akura had been caught by a flock of birds and her clothes, which only consisted of her pants – now with short legs – and her mesh shirt, were nearly completely destroyed. Scratches and thin streaks of blood decorated her face, but the anger in her eyes made everyone relax.  
As long as the girl could be angry, she was fine.

"Naruto! The day you sit in the Hokage's chair, you _will_ kill all animals with tusks, claws and teeth!" Sakura hissed.

The male members gave one another knowing looks.  
Tomorrow would be another of her rage-days and she would throw a fit about everything. Kakashi made a note to get his small knife ready for another hair cut.

**.**

_Day fifty-two_

The Kakashi-sun started brightening up with the morning and Tenko took one last look around. Sasuke should start waking up every minute now.  
Thirty minutes passed and nobody moved. The fox frowned and went over to her friends.

"Hey, guys. Wake up. It's morning." She nudged as Naruto's leg and then went over to Kakashi and cleared her throat once.

"Maa, Tenko-chan. Good observation. You certainly are a fox. Not as smart, but you smell like one."

"Thank you? How did I earn the pleasure of your comment?"

"You stated something painfully obvious and from your scent I can tell you didn't bath in a while now."

"Of course not! I have to smell the soap 24/7 and let the kids cuddle me with river water washed clothes pressed to my face, why would I bury my poor nose in the source?"

"As much as your baths contribute to everyone's entertainment, I understand where you are coming from. I think by now I would welcome every scent that is not soap." Kakashi gave her a pat on the head and was about to get up, when he suddenly stopped in the movement and his eye widened in surprise.  
Getting up quicker than Sasuke in a spar against Naruto, the man grabbed his tattered Jonin vest.

"Up, everyone! Get your stuff, all the weapons and food as fast as you can!"  
The Genin untangled themselves and hectically looked around.

"What's wrong? Are we under attack? Finally, I can test my new jutsu on those damn birds!" Naruto cheered and jumped up and down in euphoria.

"No, my clone just dispersed itself. He found a suspicious crack in the dimension."  
Not one minute later was every possession stowed away and Team 7 started running in the trees towards the spot Kakashi's clone found the tear in space in.

.

They were running for six hours at the children's maximum speed when Kakashi finally allowed a short break. Collapsing to the ground, the kids emptied their water containers.

"How… long…," Sakura pressed out between heavy breaths and held on to her side.

"One more hour," was their sensei's short answer. He was not panting like the Genin were, but the evidence of strain could be heard in the man's voice.  
They all would prefer a longer break or more opportunities to drink without fearing to puke out their lungs, but this could be their way home and none of them cared for a slower pace without vomiting when they could be back home in the next hour.

Sasuke pushed himself of the branch on shaking legs, took a deep breath and knotted the water bottle back on his bag.  
"Let's get home then."

The Uchiha must have said magical words, because his teammates quickly finished their last mouthful of soap-scented river water and their run continued at a neck-breaking speed for the kids. Kakashi respected their vigour and said nothing about their resulting stamina exhaustion and over-acidified muscles.

.

Team 7 slowed down near a random spot on one of the endless lavender-coloured meadows. The Kakashi-sun was up at its maximal brightness and warm sunlight broke in a small crack in the air. There it was: the tear they were hoping for.

Everyone was slowly creeping closer and before anyone could have reacted, Naruto poked the crack. Sakura quickly slapped his hand and gave him a pointed look.

"Are you stupid?! What if you disrupted it? Or it disappears?!"

"Dope, I promise to kill you if you sabotage our only way home. And I will make your death slow and painful."

Kakashi just gave a nod, but was too curious about the tear in space. Naruto had mindlessly touched it and who knows what could have happened? But it didn't and that was exactly why the Jonin was curious.  
Resting his chin in one hand, the man studied the phenomenon.

"Hmm. It did not react to Naruto-kun. Last time we didn't start with a dimensional crack, but a clash of chakra, right, Tenko?"

"Uhm, yeah, I think so. Kitsu mentioned something like that."

"Kitsu?" Naruto raised an eyebrow in question.

"Yup, that's what I call the guy, he _is_ a fox," Tenko's voice was friendly, but they all could hear the conversation about the matter ended right there.

"Oh-okay," the blonde Uzumazi stumbled over his word, still not used to his friend's odd behaviour.  
Kakashi let out a loud sigh and was not able to hide his annoyance. Not that he ever intended to do it.

"Tenko, stop bitching around and try to get Kitsu to help us."

"What?!"

"Get your butt into your mind space and convince your prisoner to help us out. He will need your help as much as we need his to leave this dimension." Kakashi made his voice sound stricter and the situation was nothing where he would argue about his decisions. "Now!"

The summon winced at the harsh tone, but reluctantly sat down and started taking deep, controlled breaths to calm herself down.

Tenko had hoped to never go back to the shed or talk about the real fox summon again. But here she was, sitting in front of their possible gate back home and she needed Kitsu's help. For the past month she avoided meditating as much as possible, only doing it when she could be sure to not spike her chakra.

Taking in another deep breath, Tenko forced herself to relax and with the controlled fluctuation of chakra, she found herself once again in front of the old shed.

Hesitantly, she reached out for the door, but this time it flew open on its own and Kitsu's killing intent slapped Tenko in the face.

"**Give me back my body or wait for me to kill you."**

Tenko took a look around the room. Nothing had changed and the man still sat in the middle of the circle of candles. Scratching her cheek, she herself to meet his gaze. Yup, the man was pissed.

"H-hey… ehm- you know. I know we don't have the best relation and-"

"**You are right in that point. Now fuck off! You don't look ready do die, so get out of my sight!"**

Tenko looked at her feet.  
Why did she have to be here? She would be happier to fight the stupid flock of rapid birds or pat a cat than be here.

"Look, I know that I am… well, not your favourite person right now, but-"

"**But **_**what**_**?"** Tenko was sure Kitsu's voice could dissolve mountains to goo with all the hate and rage pressed into it.

"We might have found a way home and we need you to mix our chakra and possibly open the crack in the dimension."

There was a pause and Tenko dared to look up again.  
Kitsu still glared at her, but his mind seemed to be somewhere else. His eyes were calculating, figuring out what was asked from him.

"**You dimwit seriously expect me to help you?"**

"Eh… if you want to get back into our dimension, too, then yes. I do." Silence greeted Tenko once again. Then Kitsu's shoulders sagged down and he let out a growl.

"**The chakra clash forced a gate to this ugly place and your stupid sensei already noticed the barrier for summons to enter this dimension."**

"Yes, he can't contact his ninken. And my- your body is only here because of our little accident. Even if you manage to get back your body right now, you might be stuck here with the kids and Kakashi."

"**Are you trying to pressure me into joining your plan?"**

"We both know you have no other choice, as do we." Kitsu reached to his left side and grabbed a flask with sake, downing it in one go.

"**Shit… we only have one chance."**

"W-What?"

"_**I said **_**we only have one chance. Whatever this dimension is, it was never meant for any summon to enter. We landed here- what? Fifty days ago? It took me thirty days to not be chakra exhausted anymore."**

Tenko had to swallow at the implications.  
"So, your chakra production was slowed down too far for us to have more than one try or wait another fifty days?" This made the huge man snort humourlessly.

"**It means a failure with just a dot too much of my chakra will be enough for me to not recover fast enough, and I will die. As do you, since this is **_**my**_** body." **He gave Tenko a moment to fully register his words with a sadistic smile on his face.  
**"You are just lucky I don't plan to die today."**

.

It took Tenko thirty minutes to open her eyes again and confirm Kitsu's help to her team. Kakashi gave a relieved nod and told her to thank her prisoner. Tenko did not like this suggestion.

"Should I try the same thing from last time?"

"This would be our safest option. Or do you have another idea?" The copy-ninja didn't expect Tenko to have one and he was right.

The children stood next to their sensei and all eyes were directed at the small fox who slowly gathered chakra in her mouth.

Kakashi frowned at the strange expression their four-legged friend wore when she broke off her meditation. She was clearly worried but didn't mention anything of concern. She just said the fox man would help them out. Or hadn't Kitsu agreed to their plan?  
No, he had to, or he would be stuck here with Team 7.

Not having anymore time to conspire theories, Kakashi felt the tell-tale spike of chakra in the summon and chakra busted out off her towards the tear where it disappeared into.  
Nothing happened.

Naruto had breathed in soundly and held his breath, eyes fixed on the small crack. He waited.  
"Sensei… shouldn't- well, something happen?" The blonde boy did not want to jinx them, but the possibility that their plan failed caused a heavy feeling in his stomach.

His sensei was just about to say something, when the tear was ripped open and a strong maelstrom of air started to pull them in.

"It worked!" The Uzumaki cheered and didn't fight on his way to their exit. Team 7 took hesitant steps to the portal until they stood right in front of it. Sakura gripped Kakashi's tattered vest and even Sasuke stood a bit closer than he normally would.  
This was it. Their chance to leave this place. And maybe end up in another crazy dimension.

With an "ups" Naruto tripped behind the group and pushed them all into the unknown just before the tear closed and disappeared completely.


	18. Chapter 18

Hello everyone. :)

The next two chapters will imclude a few little stories how Team 7 spends their time until the Chunin exam starts, but I still keep the first meeting with the Sand siblings the same for most parts.  
And we have more chances for Team 7 to bond!

* * *

Nobody was around to witness the next event happening in the wide forest around Konoha.

The animals of the forest minded their own business: the rabbits searched for roots and weeds to feast on, the deer walked around the bushes and thicket, the birds danced through the air and sang their songs, a raccoon was sticking his head into every opening of the forgotten bags and tents in search for whatever he could find.

Suddenly, without a sound, the air shifted and with a choir of surprised shouts and cries, four shinobi and a fox landed next to their left-behind camp.  
The breeze was enough to make one of the tents collapse in itself - after rabbits had gnawed through the supporting strings, seemingly making sheer willpower keep the tent standing up until the last moment.

"Umpf!" Naruto felt the hard ground press all the air out of his lungs. Sakura and Sasuke just barely managed to avoid crashing on their blonde teammate by rolling over his body and then stopping in the dirt with similar sounds of protest from their bodies.  
Kakashi landed on his feet like he just jumped off a chair without any visible effort or trouble from their travel through space. The only prove was his slightly more ruffled hair.

His fake-bored expression changed dramatically, when the last member of Team 7 stumbled out of the tear and Tenko clawed herself into the next best thing - and attached herself with chakra as well - to stop her fall, which was her sensei's leg with pants made of more holes than cotton.

"Tenko-chan, I would appreciate you let go immediately," Kakashi said with some stain in his voice when he tried to pull the animal off and her short claws out of his leg.

Sakura hastily looked around the clearing with the two small tents, the firewood still stacked at one side and their bags at the tents' openings.  
"We are back!" The girl shrieked in euphoria and picked herself up quicker than Naruto could say 'Ramen'. She ran to their packs and went through her things.

It took her team only a couple of seconds to cheer out in delight at their return home - well, Sasuke grunted and gave a smirk, not completely able to hide his joy but not caring too much about it for a moment. The boy had a god damn emotional breakdown in front of his team, a smirk wouldn't kill him now.

Naruto was at the exact opposite of the scale, crying out, jumping around, running to his things and pulling Sakura into a happy embrace, which the girl returned and both children jumped up and down, chorusing: "We are back! We are back! We are back!"

Their beloved sensei didn't showcase his pleasure as openly as his kids did, of course he wouldn't, but his relaxed posture, the barely audible sigh, earnest eye-smile and the pat on the summon's head were enough for all of them to know.

Tenko recovered from her premature panic attack of tumbling into a different dimension once again and after fully registering where they were, the fox pressed her snout to the ground, ran around and sniff everything and nothing she could find.

"Tenko, it really worked! We are back!" Naruto pulled his friend, whose head was peeking into a bush, into his arms and spun around, laughing like a maniac.

A sudden cry from their pink-haired member made everyone freeze, before everyone tried to pinpoint the source of any possible danger. The male members of team 7 all had pulled out the sad little excuses of weapons still left in their possession after over fifty days.  
The only danger Sasuke was able to find was going deaf thanks to Sakura's strange sounds of joy and he was about to complain with a "hn" or a grunt – Sasuke might use both in his annoyance – when the girl took a dive into the river.

"It doesn't smell like soap bars in here! This is great! It's _normal_." This was all Sakura had to say when suddenly the complete team followed after her. The low water temperature never bothered them less.

Kakashi was smart enough to grab Sakura's and Naruto's bag and bring it with him. The girl always packed her own soap and shampoo, as did Naruto with Tenko's animal friendly shampoo, and at this point, Kakashi preferred smelling like a fruit basket before using his own bar of soap he had packed for the camping trip and quickly decided to just leave the item behind.  
At home, his minty shampoo would be waiting for him and never before was the Jonin more excited to take a deep sniff of any of his possessions while showering.

The girl pulled her shower utensils out of her bag and happily shared them with her team to just get the stench off of them. Even the fox agreed to use the strawberry shampoo and bear with the burning intensity in her nose. Her own shampoo had a very neutral scent and the fox doubted its ability to override the soap-stench.

Tattered clothes were dripping wet, when Sasuke and Naruto decided to finally give up on them and dumped the rags next to Sakura's bag, not pulling completely blank, of course.

"Sakura, you can go first and change in the tent. Sasuke, Naruto, you two go next. In the meantime, … I will burn our old clothes." Kakashi instructed his Genin.

"But sensei, I want to burn them, too!" Naruto complained and pouted.

"Yes, why are you the only one destroying those rags?" Sakura gave the man a reproachful look.

"Hn! …She's right."  
Kakashi gave one of his most faked eye-smiles.

"Because I allowed you guys to destroy enough stuff in the other place. Additionally, I am your sensei and- No, I am _not_ pulling the rang-card, Naruto-kun! - I just want to have the pleasure to get rid of the reminders of our little trip, so my cute little Genin can let the past be in the past."

Naruto and his peers gave one another calculating looks. Like hell the man would have stopped them from burning, burying and wrecking the whole dimension.

Sakura let out a loud sigh.  
"Let's just dump our stuff on the pile and let Kakashi-sensei play fire devil."  
The boys gave a nod and just grabbed their stuff to change in the bushes, not patient enough to wait for Sakura to change in the tent.

Tenko pulled herself out of the water with chakra and walked over to Kakashi, who was already standing next to the pile of clothes the boys left behind.

Shaking the excessive amount of liquid out of the red fur, the fox took her time to sniff the air, look around, bask in the golden sunlight which would not dim but disappear at the horizon in the evening and simply enjoy the small sounds she could hear in the forest.

After taking her time to just relish the moment, Tenko let her eyes wander over their camp. With a frown she noticed that something was off, but she couldn't say what exactly.  
Walking over to the bags and tents, the fox looked around and inspected the objects they left behind. Some were damaged and showed teeth marks, the scent still lingering indicated the recent visit of a raccoon from the collapsed tent, but everything else seemed fine. And there laid the problem.

"Hey, old man. Why does everything look so- so… fine? We were gone long enough for more damage and dust than this."

"Maa, so you noticed, too. Let's say I have my theory, but we will wait for out lovely hotheads to get back before I share my ideas. And then we get back to Konoha, of course."

Tenko let out an annoyed sound between the noise of a whale and a groan.  
"Can't you just say those things in the first place? One day someone dies because you choose to withhold information."

"Don't be silly, Tenko-chan. Isn't that your thing? I am merely playing around with possible explanations which in no way are dangerous or life-threatening."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm a hypocrite. Just go and change your clothes, they still stink of soap. And get rid of the mask, the thing is ragged and must be more than filthy by now."

Kakashi bend down to pick up his clothes, when his tattered, water-proved pouch finally gave up its long fight against fate and the natural elements and ripped off the man's belt. The orange smut novel whirled up some dirt and Tenko could see the by now well used material and wrinkled paper from reading the book over and over again.  
Oh, yeah. Kakashi only had one of his novels to read, not packing more for a originally two-day-camping-trip.

The book fell open and Tenko could see the content of a random page.

_Natsuki gasped at the cold sensation, when Kuroo pressed the naked, busty woman against his armour. Too long has he longed for the sensual body and when his gloved fingers finally touched her hot core, a joyful moan filled his ears and round breasts pressed harder against the metal on his chest. Natsuki started rubbing herself against the hand and opened her lover's pants. "Kuroo, I can't stop myself any longer. Please, I want you to fill me with your large, hard-"_

The fox stopped, took in a sharp breath and looked up at the Jonin's face, a scandalous, yet annoyed expression forming.

"Oh, yes… you read that stuff for the plot." Tenko did not know if her voice sounded as dry as her throat felt. Kakashi had the audacity to nod.

"The plot." A short moment of silence.

"If the kids read this- this… _filthy smut_ before the age of 30 and I find out it was your fault their innocence was defiled, so help you god, because I promise you, you will be sorry, old man." The Jonin noticed the dark tone in the small fox's voice, but who could take threats from a knee-high fox serious?

"I guess this is one of the moments where they are our _shared_ responsibility? Really, you can be such a mama bear if you want, Tenko-chan. They are Genin, adults by law."

"Not by mine, they aren't. And you are the perverted uncle they only should see once a yearfor New for New Year to keep their minds pure."

Tenko just got an eye-smile and off the Jonin went to change his own clothes. He certainly did not take this matter too serious.  
Tenko considered breaking into Kakashi's place and destroying every novel the man owned. And every copy she could find in Konoha.

Sakura was the first to re-join the fox and she dumped the tattered clothes with glee in her eyes, just waiting for her sensei to commit arson.

A quick look around and Sakura automatically started searching for her teammates. In the colour dimension they made it a habit to always check on each other should one person be missing too long from their base or just not in their field of view. Better safe than sorry.

The girl was circling the camp for any trails of the boys, when the tell-tale bickering from the bushes piped up.

"What do you mean, my clothes look worse than the old ones?! Are you blind, teme?"

"The orange colour is brighter and your jacket only lack ten more holes, dope."

"Oh, do you expect me to magically pull new stuff out of my ass or something?"

"Hn, please don't."

"Shut up! You started to talk shit! And don't step on my foot again."

"What I tried to say was you should overthink your choice in clothing."

"Don't talk to me about fashion, asshole! Like anyone would willingly wear white shorts. How on earth do you get the dirt out of them anyways?"

"Urgh, like everyone does with their laundry, by washing them. Anyways, you seriously need new things."

"Tsk, tell that the shop owners, not me."

"Why?"

"What do you mean, _why_? The only place where they don't kick me out is the old corner store and the orange jumpsuits are the only ones I can afford. Admitted, orange is the greatest colour ever, but I couldn't get other stuff even if I wanted to."

"Hn."

"What do you mean this time? Use words!"

"It this related to the Kyuubi you told us about, Naruto-kun?"  
Sakura decided to join the conversation. There was a short pause from the bushes, before both boys stepped back out in their usual, not fifty-days-in-a-row-worn clothes. The blonde boy scratched the back of his neck and averted his eyes for a moment.

"Yes."

"Hn." Never before had both consonants sounded more despising (towards the citizen) and sympatric (towards Naruto).

"Naruto-kun, how about we all go on a shopping trip together? I am sure the shop owners wouldn't kick a whole group of Genin out and if they try, we use Sasuke-kun and threaten them to use his Uchiha-status to spread bad rumours about their businesses."

Tenko gave the girl an impressed look.  
"You can be a cunning, evil woman. I like your plan!"

"Maa, maa. Before you guys destroy Konoha's economy, we should get back home first." Kakashi said and ignored the sound of surprise from the female team members when he suddenly appeared behind them.

"_Stop that_, sensei! This is still not funny!" Sakura complained and Tenko gave a strong nod.

"I beg to differ. It is highly amusing. But back to the topic at hand. We are back at our camp after fifty-two days too many in that awfully coloured place. Now, my cute little Genin, I am very happy we all have our limbs attached to us and nobody went blind. Tell me, did you notice something around here?"  
Kakashi spread his arms to encourage his students to find what he and the fox already noticed.

It took the children over ten minutes to find the answer to Kakashi's question or rather what was missing.  
When the man shared his theory of the difference in the progression of time in their colour dimension compared to their own, the Genin were baffled and Sakura's reaction certainly was not what any of the team expected.

"WHAT?! You mean we lived on that ugly blue tree for fifty days, ate more boar meat and drank too much disgusting root water than I ever want to taste in my life again, had to endure that repugnant soapy smell and the nastiest colour combinations and to everyone else it hasn't been that long?!  
We all nearly went insane on the bad days, snapped at each other, had emotional breakdowns-

"You had breakdowns, we all just had one, maximum." Sasuke mumbled half-heartedly.

" – We burned every exposable thing just for a change of colour, I came to nearly hate my own hair and don't ever want to see a rabbit again – let alone a _pink_ rabbit - and you want to tell me, it was just _a couple of days_ and no one even started to _worry_?!"

Sakura did not take the harsh truth well. At least this time she did not start to chop off parts of her body or kill boars with her fists.

Tenko, standing between the boys, nudged at Naruto's and Sasuke's legs and said just loud enough for them to hear: "Remind me to buy her stress balls for her next birthday… or valerian."

"At least we got stronger, get along better as a team and learned new things about each other, Sakura-chan."

"_Not_ right now, Naruto-kun."

.

Team 7 quickly packed all their things and watched Kakashi burn their old clothes with an A-rang fire jutsu. The glee in all their faces was lightened by the bright, hot flames and Naruto and Sakura gave a short happy-dance around the fire. If Kakashi was the fire devil, they were his little demons, all cheering in their own way for the burning destruction into a pile of ashes.

.

At the gates to Konoha the guards didn't bat an eye at the Genin and their sensei, when said team ran past them at neck breaking speed, all too used to the strange quirks of their fellow shinobi.

The Hokage's secretary didn't react as laid-back, when the chaotic bunch nearly ran the poor man over and threw open the doors to the mission room, where the Third was spending his day and Naruto yelled: "We are back!"  
All eyes were directed at them while the conversations stopped and Sarutobi couldn't suppress a chuckle.

"I can see that, Naruto."  
His eyes went from the blonde boy, whose face consisted out of a wide, huge grin, to Sakura, challenging her teammate's joyful expression with blushing cheeks from their sprint back home.  
The last Uchiha came nowhere near his two teammates, but there was no frown and - did his face look more open than usually?.  
Kakashi gave an eye-smile, but relief radiated from him and, behind the group, Hiruzen could see Tenko dragging herself into the room, panting like she just ran from the devil but no less happy, considering her dislike for physical work she often displayed.

"Nooo, you don't really see it, Jiji! We were gone over fifty days and-" Two hands immediately pressed themselves over the Uzumaki's mouth to shut him up, paired with protesting looks from his peers.

"We said in a _private meeting_, dumbass. Does this look anywhere private to you?" Sakura hissed and as if by command, Naruto was dragged out of the crowded room and towards the stairs leading to Sarutobi's office.

"Maa, if we could have a moment, Hokage-sama? It is… urgent," Kakashi struggled to find the right word for the unbelievable trip they went through.  
The old man raised his eyebrows in scepticism, but after filing his latest mission report away, his curiosity made him hurry as he stood up from his desk and obeyed to the team of special misfits.

.

To say the Hokage was overwhelmed by the absolutely crazy, insane, otherworldly tale Team 7 told in five different versions would be like stating that Orochimaru only felt a light preference to science and mad experiments or Hiruzen was in the youthful blossom of his years.  
It didn't do justice to the truth.

And Sarutobi may or may not have said it out loud that he was getting too old for his job to which Naruto just reached out his hand to receive the old man's hat. Which didn't happen.

"Let me repeat the main points, just for clearance. You went to a short camping trip and practiced ninjutsu?"

"Correct."

"Then Tenko's chakra fluctuation acted up and it caused you to travel into another dimension?"

"Correct."  
"With horrible colours! Oh, the colours."  
"And _everything_ smelled of soap bars!"  
"Hn." The Third gave a silent nod.

"Then you survived for fifty da-"

"Fifty-two, Jiji."

"Pardon, Naruto-kun. You survived there for fifty-two days and only managed to open a tear in space because Tenko and the true owner of her body used both their chakra?"

"Correct." Kakashi confirmed once again.

Hiruzen gave the group in front of him a look of utter disbelief. How on earth was it possible to put a team together where every single member proved too much talent for acts of insanity and a tendency to attract multiple problems? Well, Tenko still took the cake in that department.

Seriously, who much more ridiculous could her strange case get? Will she grow wings of nature chakra next? Or befriend the god of shinigami?  
'_Wait, no. Don't jinx yourself, old man_.' The Third quickly stopped his thoughts then and there and took a deep breath, before addressing Team 7.

"First of all, I am very happy to know you all are alright. As it seems to us, you were gone barely two and a half days here, I am proud to know you withstood the odds.  
Secondly, I will not ban scent erasing soap until we have an alternative, I am sorry about your trauma, but this is not an option at the moment. I promise to look into this matter, though.  
Thirdly, you will take the following two days off and rest well. I am sure, you need it. Go, have a large late lunch first and put the bill on my tab. Naruto knows what to do."

The Genin gave big grins, Sasuke did his own version which was another smirk, and Sakura immediately cried out to not go out for a barbeque of mixed meat.

"Fourthly, Tenko, you will be the death of me. Body-theft against a fox summon? I come to regret my decision to keep you here." The man sighed. "We will look into it at another point in time, since the Chunin exam takes up all our staff right now.  
You can go, but keep in mind that I will try and get one of the Yamanaka clan to visit you all tomorrow for some counselling."

Nobody seemed too impressed with the last comment.

"At least for your hate of soap and certain colours." Sarutobi suggested.

.

Team 7 used the whole time to Ichiraku's for bickering where exactly they would go to eat, because everyone had developed a strong dislike for certain foods.

Sasuke refused to go anywhere near plant-based meals, the roots still made his stomach upset only by thinking about them.  
Kakashi did not want to eat anything with thyme, because to the man it tasted like soap. Everyone agreed.  
Naruto wanted to eat ramen after the torture of missing his favourite food for 'an eternity'.  
Tenko just declined restaurant names where she knew Naruto didn't have a chance to enter on his own.

Sakura couldn't bear to eat anything reminding her of their trip right now.  
"I don't want to see meat for a while, especially boar and rabbit, or roots, or berries, or something soapy. Give me carbohydrate. Hell, I eat all the dango you can find."

So, the only place left was the ramen stand, also known as Naruto's second home. If you couldn't find him at his apartment, go and look there. The odds to actually meet the boy eating ramen was 99:1.

Team 7 felt no shame when they all ate too much ramen and put it on the Hokage's tab. This was real food with normal colours and the broth had no resemblance to soap.  
Naruto even managed to beat his previous record of twelve bowls of ramen and made up half the costs on his own.

The boy expected everyone to stand up and go home, but the exact opposite happened. Nothing. His teammates just sat on their stools and felt content being back. Even Sakura didn't run home to her parents immediately.  
Naruto really liked this fact and he would have loved to just enjoy their presence all day long, but he began to feel antsy.

They were all back now, everything was normal once again. Team 7 did not have to depend on one another as much as they did on their trip. Everyone had their own home to go back to.

Tenko, sitting next to her friend, noticed the restlessness overcoming his body and without making an educated guess, the fox could think about the reason. Naruto, never explicitly saying it out loud, had enjoyed the time spend together. He felt much more comfortable around his, dared Tenko call them, friends, even more after opening up about the Kyuubi and seeing how nothing changed for worse.

"My, my. This was really tasty! You guys up for some ice cream at Naruto's and my place? We could have a sleepover to celebrate our return. Especially, since we still have the chance to join the Chunin exam thanks to Kakashi."

"Wait, what?" Naruto and Sakura said at the same time and gave the summon a confused look. Sasuke looked up in interest, but he didn't say anything.

"Maa, looks like we forgot to tell you. Today, I am going to nominate you for the exam and wanted to use our camping trip to prepare you a little more." Kakashi at least had the decency to rub his neck in an embarrassed way.

"I think the preparation was more effective than planned." All eyes landed on the Uchiha. Somehow his team expected him to go back to his silent, hn-ing self, not participating in their conversations.

"You are right, it was. I will get you the registration form the day after tomorrow when we get back into training." The man gave a nod and stood from his seat.

"Ah, wait, sensei! What about the sleepover? You will be there, right?" Sakura quickly said, not giving the Jonin the opportunity to get away.

"Er… isn't that stuff kids your age do?" Naruto gave a blank stare.

"So what? This is Team 7 business and last time I checked you were a member. We expect you at five pm at my place, sensei. You still have four hours left."

Kakashi didn't answer, but the blonde Uzumaki hadn't expected one. Sakura frowned and gave him a questioning look.

"Five pm? Why this early?" she asked to which Naruto grinned.

"Because he is always late. Better tell him to come over early and be on time than starting without him. And he should feel guilty enough for the camping idea to actually be there." This made his teammates grin and Sakura shortly widened her eyes after remembering something.

"You are more cunning than the fox," Sasuke gave the backhanded compliment while insulting their smallest team member. Naruto grinned at the Uchiha and said boy smirked back.

"Okay, when have you both started to connect so much and why am I the target of your bro-time?" Tenko complained loudly, but the boys just shrugged their shoulders.  
In the colour dimension they made great progress to build a friendship going further than their rivalry and now, being back and more relaxed, they seemed to keep it up.  
Somewhere in Tenko's mind she knew she'd never truly try and stop this development, because it meant too much to Naruto and Sasuke. '_Damn, I'm a sucker when it comes to children._'

"Before the sleepover I have to see my parents! Two days or fifty-two, I can't just stay over without seeing them. And, oh-" Sakura rubbed her neck and once again felt the short hair between her fingers. Right, she actually made quite the changes to her body.

"Do you want us to escort you home? Maybe stay with you when you tell your parents what happened?" Tenko offered at the girl's strange expression of self-consciousness, to which Sakura nodded in gratitude.

.

Sasuke told his peers to go without him, since he had to do something first, but he would catch up to them in no time. This was conveyed in two hn's and one sentence of normal-human length. Now, was that little promise to willingly be nice great process or what?!

Sakura and Naruto walked next to each other, chatting about their plans for the free day, basically the female team member dictated a shopping trip for Naruto with herself and Sasuke as his company.

Tenko felt content just listening to the animated voices of the Genin and with the knowledge that none of them had fallen back into their old habits around one another by now.  
Sure, Naruto was literally bouncing happily next to the pink-haired girl, but this was his genuine feeling right then and there, no façade.

The only thing bothering the fox was the coloured box on six legs behind them, obviously following the Genin since Ichiraku's. Naruto and Sakura had noticed them early on as well, but decided to ignore it, until Naruto couldn't take it anymore.

"Alright, stop following me, Konohamaru! And polish your damn stealth skills. This is the worst excuse of a rock I've ever seen!"  
Tenko's mouth shaped into an 'o'. So, this was Hogake's grandson, Naruto had told her about. The blonde Uzumaki had always told her about the boy, but the fox never met him before, mostly because of coincidence or Tenzo-sensei's training.

"Of course, you'd see through our disguise. As to expect from my rival!" said the box and exploded seconds later. Three coughing children kneeled on the ground, two boys and a girl.

Suddenly, the trio cried out their strange introduction-choreography and Tenko was too dumbfounded to really follow their words. The only thing she managed to get was Konohamaru being their small group's leader and he was just as big-mouthed as Naruto has been.  
This actually changed mostly since Team 7 seriously started working together and the Uzumaki boy got attention without _always_ shouting and declaring his challenges to Sasuke. The honest affection and attention he got from his teammates and sensei really worked wonders sometimes.

When Naruto asked them about their goggles and the brave, short leader answered with doing this out of adoration for the blonde Genin, Tenko couldn't stop the smile on her face. Now this was adorable!

"Huh…," Naruto didn't sound as amazed as the fox was by their choice and Tenko kicked against his shin.

"Don't be rude, Naruto!" The summon then turned to the kids. "This is a very sweet gesture of you, and I am happy to know you guys like this knucklehead. So, thanks."

The girl immediately was on her knees and stared at Tenko with stars in her eyes.  
"Can I pet you?"

After a short nod, Tenko had three pairs of hands on her head and in her fur while the trio sang praises about the softness and great colour of it. As always, Tenko basked in the praises.

"Tenko, where is your hitai-ate?" Naruto's question awoke the fox from her state of basking, and she had to think back to when she wore it the last time. The summon did not wear it when they finally jumped back through the dimensional tear, that she knew.

"Huh? … Oh, shoot! I- I don't- damn it, I _do_ know. One of the crazy birds ripped it off me at the first bird attack. When they took half of our meat and the furs were stolen. Oh man, I actually liked that thing."

Sakura gave the fox a pat on the head and suggested asking Hokage-sama for a new one, since their leader clearly had a generous day, considering their lunch.

"So, why were you following me around?" Naruto irrupted the cuddling and Konohamaru was back shouting his answers in his strange superhero-pose.

"Because you promised to play ninja with us!" Sakura and Tenko gave their blonde teammate a glance, noticing the slight blush on his face.

"A ninja playing ninja?" Sakura repeated to make sure she understood correctly and Tenko let out a snort. This was so typical for Naruto.

The trio finally noticed the girl, a fact she did not like too much. Sakura stood directly next to Naruto all the time. How could they not notice her?

Three critical pairs of eyes went over her. The kids looked at Sakura's short hair, the scratches in her face and on her hands, the earth coloured clothes and loose pants.

"Hey, are you the Uchiha guy our boss is rivals with?" the child with snot hanging out of his nose asked and Tenko was about to laugh out loud at the mistake, when suddenly hell fire ignited behind her.  
Slowly looking over her shoulder, Tenko saw Sakura with a lowered face and shaking fists, angry flames covering the background.  
When did she learn Gai's sunset-genjutsu-thing? And how was she altering it?

"I am _who_?" The tone of the girl's voice should have raised red flags, but the children did not seem to get the danger they put themselves in, because Konohamaru was the next one to speak.

"You are the other guy of boss's team. The arrogant prick."

A fist with the speed of light raced towards the boy, but in a moment of stupid bravery, Naruto quickly pushed the kid out of the way and took the punch for him. Only stopping his flight because of a fence, Naruto let out a painful groan and Sakura winced, but still didn't feel bad enough to dispel her anger.

"You damn brats. I am a girl!" Naruto managed to stand back up and was about to shut Konohamaru's mouth, but it was too late.

"As if any girl has such a large forehead." Sakura flinched at the verbal reminder of her childhood insecurity, but quickly pushed it out of her mind.  
After Kakashi had saved as much of her hair as he could, the girl had another emotional breakdown because now her forehead was on full display, as she called it. It has taken her sensei, Naruto and Tenko the better part of a day to talk her out of the depressing hysteria whenever Sakura saw her reflection in the water.

The holy spell to end her (or her team's) suffering were Sasuke's with the legendary words: "Why should you care about other people's opinions? Your forehead doesn't make you ugly, a bad personality does."  
Tenko called out the double standard and pointed out the brat's behaviour a few months ago, but it managed to make Sakura learn how to accept her insecurities. Never before was Tenko happier, Sakura still had a spark of fangirl-ism left in her, which disappeared around the end of their trip

Finally seeing the demon they conjured, the trio started running for their lives with Sakura on the pursue. Naruto was caught in the heat of the attack and started running for his life, too.  
Tenko immediately followed and, thanks to her latest training out of necessity, she quickly caught up with the group, when Konohamaru was the first to cut the corner and run into someone.

"Hey, that hurt." Came a nearly bored and definitely pissed voice, and then the fox stopped next to her friends. In front of them sat Konohamaru and before him stood a blonde girl with a strange hairdo and huge fan on her back.  
Next to her, the owner of the voice, was a guy with strange violet lines on his face and… was he wearing a jumpsuit with cat ears? On his back he carried something wrapped in bandages with a turf of brown hair sticking out of the top. A quick sniff told Tenko this think was made of wood, so no human.  
The two strangers had to be a few years older than Naruto and Sakura, but they held themselves with much more confidence.

Suddenly, the guy in the black cat-jumper snatched Konohamaru from the ground and held him up by the blue scarf.  
"I said, that hurt, you damn brat."


	19. Chapter 19

_Suddenly, the guy in the black cat-jumper snatched Konohamaru from the ground and held him up by the blue scarf.  
"I said, that hurt, you damn brat."_

* * *

"Stop that. You will get us into trouble." His female companion protested, but she made no move to physically stop the guy.

"Hey, you! Get your hands off Konohamaru right now!" Naruto piped up and gave a furious glare. Oh, right, never mess with Naruto's friends.

Judging by an offhanded comment and the ignorance of Konohamaru's struggles, cat-boy didn't care about other people's opinions, though.

'_That guy wears cat ears. It is logically that he is evil!_'  
Not that Tenko's thought would help them out, but judging someone and putting them into the 'bad people' box was unsurprisingly easy right now.  
Who hurts children anyways?

Konohamaru gasped for air when the scarf around his neck tightened further and Naruto ran towards the asshole with a loud "You bastard!", but with the shift of his finger, cat-boy made the blonde boy fall to the ground.

"What the-"

"Hah, you Genin from Konoha are nothing but weak."  
Tenko and Sakura both frowned at the comment. From Konoha, so they were from a different land?

'_Duh, which Konoha shinobi attacks a fellow civilian_?' the fox tried to argue and got even madder at the stranger for obvious reasons.

"Let the child go right now, you piece of shit. How low can you sink to hurt kids?" she growled and took a few steps to Naruto's side. It was more for emotional support than anything, since Tenko didn't want to fight anyone for real, but fake it till you make it, right?  
The summon gave another, deeper growl and shifted into an attacking stance Kiba taught her while her stay at his home. This was a total bluff, but the strangers didn't know that.

Cat-boy gave her a wary glance, clearly recognizing her as a summon, and an angry one none the less, but she still hadn't attacked him. So, was she waiting for something? A command from her master? But who of those little idiots possibly had the potential to make a contract? Certainly not the blonde hothead, right? Or was she just escorting them?

"Are you deaf? I told you to let go of the boy, you waste of space," the fox summon spat and took another step at him. Her ears were pressed against her head and sharp teeth were bared. The red fur on the animals neck stood up, both tails twitched rapidly and everything about her posture screamed attack.  
'_I am about to piss myself here. Can't the twat leave us alone already? I really, really don't want to fight. Just go away_.' Tenko silently told herself but kept her act up.

The other small children next to Sakura called out their little friend's name and Naruto, once again, challenged cat-boy and threatened to beat him up. Tenko was getting desperate with the tension and threats of harm on both sides. If this escalated any further, she might have to attack for real.

Luckily, Sakura grabbed Naruto around the neck and hissed at him not to worsen their strange stand-off, much to cat-boy's amusement.

He made another harsh comment about Naruto being weak, perfectly pushing the Uzumaki's buttons again.

"And I find it amusing to beat up loud-mouthed children."

"Now, _that_ is just sick, cat-boy." Tenko said with a disgusted expression, somehow lessening the tension between the boys when the strangers looked down to her again. The blondie raised an eyebrow and her sharp eyes studied the fox for a moment.

"Cat-boy?" she asked and gave her partner a short glance. Seemed like she knew where Tenko came from and the guy was straight out pissed.

"Oh, I'll make sure to hurt you after the little shit." This was the only warning the Konoha nins got, before the asshole raised his fist and was about to punch Konohamaru.

Then something connected with his hand and Konohamaru fell to the ground, quickly getting up and running over to his friends.  
Tenko decided to stay between both groups, even if it was to give the fake image of protection for the small, crying children.

Cat-boy hissed at the pain in his wrist and looked to the ground, where he saw the object that hit him. Tenko recoginised it as one of the smaller weapons made of bone Team 7 used in the other dimension. Following the path where said item came from, everyone noticed Sasuke sitting on a tree, swinging another, bigger, blade of bone in his hand.

Alright, Tenko could admit, his entrance was way cooler than Naruto's or her own. All they did was threaten and stand around while the brat threw a fucking bone at the cat-shit. And he held a big boar tusk in his hand.

The fox was ripped out of her thoughts, when cat-boy pulled the wood thing from his back and the blondie called it raven or some other bird? So… this was a weapon?

Tenko tensed her legs and crouched lower, making her look ready to attack, when she actually prepared herself to jump out of the way, in hope for Sasuke and the other kids to manage this fight.  
No way in hell was she jumping into the danger head first. She was not Naruto!

And why didn't Sakura and Naruto use any of their newly developed skills to get Konohamaru free?  
Okay, Sakura, she could understand. The girl was still hesitant with her new-found abilities. But Naruto? Maybe the boy was too stressed to remember he actually made achievements?

Tenko was too caught up in her thoughts again, when a cold shiver went down her back and all her senses started to scream 'Danger' and the fox's body froze in the fight or flight moment - not that she'd choose the first - when a red-haired boy basically appeared out of nowhere.

He was talking to the cat-boy, just as pleased about the previous scene as everyone else, not at all.  
As much as Tenko would want to listen to them and find out if the stand-off finally was over, her body didn't let Tenko control it. Fear was willing her senses to shut down and everything the summon was able to do was breathing.

'_Yes, try to breath, calm down. What can you smell? Earth, yes, the ground you are standing on, next. Naruto, he is with us, everything will be fine, what next? Sakura… and Sasuke, they are here, too. You are safe. What next? The tree, leaves, the wood and… blood. Blood, fear, murder, agony, loneliness, hate, suffering, more blood. So much blood_!'  
It was like the flesh-eating sensation Tenko felt the first time Kyuubi's chakra pushed itself into her body.

With a sharp breath Tenko suddenly felt an arm around her, ripping her out of wherever she had just ended up. Naruto was picking her from the ground, pushing the fox into his chest and cradling her protectively. Tenko was not able to supress the short shiver of her body when she gave the red-haired teen a glance.

The foreign teens still stood in the street, but they were at a greater distance. Thank god. Some names were exchanged and Tenko lost focus, when she noticed a few grains of sand dancing in front of her snout.  
Nearly cross-eyed, she observed them dance around each other and Tenko gave the smallest chakra-impulse possible, just enough to fill a pinhead, and the grains froze.

The interested expression fell from the fox's face, when she thought she'd completely stopped their dance, but suddenly the sand shot away from her and stared mingling around the red-haired boy.  
He gave the summon an odd look she didn't know how to read, but it was not the killing intent or murderous hate she smelled on him before. But it was creepy none the less.

.

Naruto and Sasuke escorted Sakura home and when the girl opened the front door, her parents basically fell into her arms, hugging and kissing their 'sweet baby after two long days'.  
Sakura laughed at their over-protective behaviour but gave the boys an apologetic look. She knew, they never experienced such a thing or would never have the chance to again.

Sakura's mother was about to shoo the girl inside, when her eyes fell on Sasuke and Naruto with the fox in his arms.  
Tenko felt her heart drop out of her chest, when the loving, curious look turned cold and hard.

Not one word had left the woman's mouth, when Sakura put herself between her parents and teammates and stared talking.

"Don't you dare say a word, mum. I saw that damn look in your eyes! You know, I was about to tell you about my _weekend_, but I don't feel like it anymore. Until the Chunin exam starts, you can find me at Naruto's place. Bye."

With that, she closed the door in her parent's faces with a chakra-enhanced push and then grabbed both boys' sleeves to drag them away.  
The walk was silent until the Genin of Team 7 reached the blonde's home.

"I am so sorry, Naruto-kun. I- I didn't think about- they shouldn't have- we are a _team_ and-," Sakura said with a wobbly voice and tears in her eyes.  
Naruto quickly sat the fox to the ground, who he had cradled to his chest until then, and pulled his teammate into his arms.

"It's okay, Sakura-chan. Thank you for standing up for me. This means so, so very much to me."

The mood was sobering the Genin from their hectic trip and latest encounters, but it wasn't particularly bad. Naruto made it clear just how happy he was to have such great friends now. Sakura was hurt by her parents reaction but also glad to have stepped up for her teammate and even Sasuke gave her a single pat on the shoulder to show his own appreciation.

Luckily, Sakura and Sasuke had enough clothed and toiletries to stay over a couple of nights and Tenko made sure to tell the pink-haired girl repeatedly that she was welcome to stay.  
Sakura would have to get some more clothes from home, but she planned to avoid her parents and walk to her room's window from the outer wall and enter the house this way.

Naruto was busy boiling water to make some tea, while Sakura and Sasuke prepared the big living room. They all decided to spread the futons, blankets and pillows on the ground and sleep there instead of splitting up.  
Sakura didn't want to keep the guest room to herself and argued that a sleepover meant a shared place for everyone to sleep in.

They finished their preparations, Naruto had send a clone henged as Sasuke to get them take-out and everyone made themselves comfortable on the pillows. A glance at the clock told them that Kakashi should arrive in the next twenty minutes, it was already 7:30 pm.

Tenko let her eyes wander through the room and a warm feeling filled her body when she saw Naruto sitting with his peers and all of them wanted to be here.  
Just a few months ago the fox wanted to surprise Naruto with a small graduation-party and the only person to join them was Iruka-sensei.

'_Huh, maybe we should visit him someday. Has been long enough_ _already_.'

Then her eyes saw something red, her vision quickly fixed on it, mind screaming at her with an image of the creepy teen from their confrontation with the Sand ninjas. But there was no red-haired male, just her own reflexion in a glass of water.  
Calling herself stupid, the fox tried to relax, but knew she just couldn't. That kid was dangerous, extremely.

"Alright, my sweet little ducklings, listen for a moment." All eyes were on the summon and Naruto tilted his head in question.

"What's wrong, Tenko? You look tense." Sakura nodded.

"Yeah, are you still worried about the thing with the other shinobi?"

"Well, yes… Look, kids, I-" Tenko took her time to look them all in their eyes. "I don't care who that red-haired guy is, but you will stay. Away. From him!"

"They are here for the Chunin exam. We can't possibly avoid them," was Sakura's reminder.

"I want to test my strength against them."

"Duckling, NO. This is not the time to fall back into bad habits! That kid, he- I don't know what his deal is, but he is not like you three. Whatever the hell is wrong with him, I am certain he doesn't hesitate to kill you. You- you didn't smell it, but… there was so much hate and blood and… _death_."

Tenko stared at the pre-teens in front of her, curling her tails around herself for comfort.  
"We agreed to help you in your… quest to kill your br- relative, duckling, as a team. And we all have our own dreams. But that's useless if you die next week. Or any of you. Going up against him- that's suicide. I could feel it. And- god damn it. Don't you get it?! Stay away from him! I want you to stay safe and that is as far away from him as possible!"

"Tenko, I appreciate your concern for us, but we are shinobi. It is our job to fight and we already get into danger, constantly," Naruto said with a soft voice. He knew how worked up the fox could get when it came to the darker parts of a ninja's life.

"We will be careful, but I do not run from a fight." Sasuke said stubbornly.  
He saw the stress the summon was under, but what did she expect? And the tournament was made to compete against each other. Sasuke had to do this. But now, not only to get stronger, but also to grow with and for his team. Not that he'd admit it out loud.

"Maa, listen to your team mother, children."  
All four of them let out pathetic, high-pitched screams, because none of them had noticed the copy-ninja entering the apartment.

"You god damn son of a field hamster. Don't do that again!" Tenko screamed and actually bit the Jonin's pinky, when said man tried to pat her head.

The Genin still recovered from their short heart attacks, Naruto and Sakura clenching the fabric covering their chests and Sasuke put the kunai back into his pouch.

"Yes, yes," Kakashi dismissed it with a wave of his hand. Then he looked at his students and the pride to know they all stuck together even after getting back home, made him give one of his earnest eye-smiles.  
His eyes hardened the tiniest bit and he held up a finger like Iruka-sensei did before lecturing the class about the will of fire.

"I know you are much stronger now than before our little camping trip, but don't make the mistake and overestimate yourselves. What Tenko-chan… _advised_ you to do is as good as anything I would tell you. I haven't seen Gaara of the Sand yet, but I have my sources. So, be smart and listen to mama bear for now, my cute little Genin."

The rest of the evening and night did not turn out as strange as many would have guessed. Team 7 was more than used to spend nearly 21 hours of a day in close proximity except for the three hours they all had for themselves.  
Falling back into their usual routines, they spend their time talking and eating after Naruto's clone came back with the food.

As difficult as it was for the children, they all respectfully looks anywhere but to Kakashi to give the man enough time to eat without chocking.  
This was the result of one of Kakashi's few emotional minutes where he snapped at his students. It was one time around dinner, when the kids tried to peek behind the mask and Kakashi couldn't find another reason to brush them off or ignore the annoyance and frustration from the, by then, three weeks they were stuck in the blue tree and on yellow dirt.

Long story short, the Jonin 'kindly snapped' at Team 7 to finally drop it and not poke around his personal anxieties all the time.  
This seemed to make the kids understand the mask's purpose was not just a fashion statement or means to hide a ward and they apologised more often than the copy-ninja could count.

Sasuke pulled a brand-new cards game out of his bag and after some teasing he admitted to have bought it for the sleepover, since he didn't own one and doubted Naruto would have too many party games. And he was right.  
Team 7 played a few rounds, always changing the rules to more ridiculous ones the moment a new round started and Kakashi was kind enough to get the ice cream from the fridge he bought on his way over.

* * *

It was safe to say, the following days were odd for the team of misfits.  
After so many days in the colour dimension, everything normal was special to them and sometimes they all would stop training to just breath the air or look at the green leaves and brown tree bark.

Tenzo-sensei was weirded out by their behaviour at their first training session and even after their students told him about the adventure, the man sill clearly couldn't share their enormous enthusiasm about pebbles, dirt, wind or the earthy smell in the air. Or how Tenko was busy running around the training ground with her nose pressed to the ground and following each and every scent instead of doing her chakra control exercises or training her stamina.  
Tenzo was more understanding than most people were with the bunch of kids and really, what was he supposed to do when even Kakashi was in on the strange stops to enjoy life?

Team 7 sat together for their lunch break, when Tenko started to follow another scent again. She ran circles around the humans, pushed through thick bushes and ran up and down the traning ground, until the trail and her snout ended at Tenzo-sensei's leg.  
"Neko-sensei, can you scoot over for a moment? Your scent is overriding my trail. I am sure it's some huge bug." Said man blankly stared at the fox in the way that weirded her – and Naruto – out, while staying silent, of course.

It did not take the man ten seconds for Tenko to give up on her request and climb over his legs to find the trail back. She also didn't have the opportunity to get her usual pats on her head from the man yet, what she planned to correct by the end of their training session.  
Suddenly two hands grabbed the fox under her front legs and picked her up. Tenzo held her in front of his face and looked down to his lap, where dirty paw prints smeared into his pants.

"This was one think I did not miss on my mission, Tenko. Please do this with the Genin or Kakashi-senpai-"  
"Hey!"  
"- but I have enough of your footprints all over my clothes for a whole lifetime by now. Now go back to your tracking."  
He sat the summon on the ground and gave her a soft pat. There it was!

"Maa, Naruto-kun, seems like you have to share Tenko with my cute little kohai once again." Kakashi teased and Naruto's peers immediately grinned at the reference.

At the end of the training session, Kakashi gave them the registration form for the Chunin exam which he got back in the evening when he escorted his students back to Naruto's apartment and they all ran to the desk to fill out the blanks.

.

The Third also kept his threat, excuse the Freudian slip, _promise_ to send Team 7 to one therapy session and talk about their colour, diet and soap issues.

The Yamanaka clansman contacted his Hokage with following report:

"_While discussing Team 7's stay in the foreign dimension, I searched for mental issues and other anomalies, as requested:_

_Uchiha Sasuke was taciturnly as expected, but after an interruption and reminder from his teammates, he gave honest answers.  
I asked him to draw a picture of the dimension they were in and after a long argument, Sasuke-kun complied. It is worth mentioning, that he tried to burn it after finishing and I had to quickly store it away to prevent damage. _

_Sasuke-kun seems traumatised by the edible root Team 7 boiled in their drinking water to override the smell of soap. After further interrogation the boy admitted to having phantom symptoms of stomach aches and cramps just by thinking of the roots mentioned.  
I would advise against herbal treatments for his stomach aches, since every effective tea made from roots seem to cause the same symptoms. The only real physical changes are the muscle growth and length of his hair._

_Sasuke-kun showed glimpses of comfort when he gave a brief report about his team and not once did he mention the need to grow stronger for vengence, which had concerned Hatake-san when he met Team 7 after the graduation.  
His ambition to kill his relative seems to lessen while his connection to his team develops, making me come to the conclusion that Team 7 should not get split up, should only part of the Genin become Chunin._

* * *

_Haruno Sakura gave an open impression and firstly acted normal.  
When I asked her about the fifty-two days, she immediately tensed up and easily became frustrated. Sakura-kun talks about her many small outbursts mainly relating to the colours of the foreign dimension. _

_When I asked her to draw a picture, she reacted with strong, negative emotions – nearly breaking my table - and in the end I had to draw while Sakura-kun gave clear instructions. At the names of the colours her voice shook slightly and then she started mumbling about pink rabbits._

_This relates to another of her, presumably temporary, issues. She doesn't want to eat specific types of meat as well as berries and roots, the main components of which they lived off.  
I advise for her to start with fruit-flavoured sweets and reintroduce meat back into her diet.  
Physical reminders of her emotional breakouts are callous hands from chakra-infused punches, which she reported were strong enough to kill boars – this made her cry once again - and her short hair, which was fixed by Hatake-san after she wildly cut it herself in just another emotional outburst._

_Mentally, Sakura-kun obviously grew out of her so-called fangirl-phase. The insecurity about her outer appearance also lessened, while her will to become a strong kunoichi grows. She is becoming more supportive of Naruto-kun and seems to be a communicative link between her peers, while she says herself, that talking to her teammates became much easier._

* * *

_Uzumaki Naruto was open and talkative, but less loud than we know him to be.  
He seemed to have gained more trust in his teammates, resulting in a calmer temper. _

_Naruto-kun reported of one single emotional moment, when he told his peer about the S-class secret regarding himself. The openness with his peers makes him feel more accepted, at ease, as he said, and helps him to deal with his past – maybe future sessions concerning the mistreating of the village, which the boy had to endure, might be a good advice._

_When I asked him to draw the dimension on paper, he did not seem as calm as he was before, but still not as furious as any of his peers. His drawing has the most details and shows all the strangely coloured animals they've encountered, there was also something mentioned about a 'Kakashi-sun'. _

_Naruto-kun told me, he would ban the colours he used for the drawing on request of his team as soon as he became Hokage and Konoha's gates would be painted over as well. Then he mumbled about a national colour theme of earthy tones.  
Naruto-kun seems very supportive of his team's issues after their dimensional stay. _

_No treatment needed in relation to colours, but Naruto-kun clearly dislikes soap bars.  
Physically, he only gained muscle weight, his hair grew longer as well and his jumpsuit is more black than orange this time. He said his teammates made this change, because they did not was to be reminded of fish when they look at Naruto-kun._

* * *

_Hatake Kakashi was as uncooperative as usual.  
He clearly started to care very much for his students by the way his body posture and voice shift as soon as he talks about the children – he actually started a rant on how much better __**his**__ Genin were than every other team's. He also shows clear signs of pride, which is supported by the fact, that Hatake-san told me about every single achievement his 'cute, little Genin' made. Every single, tiny one._

_When I asked him to draw a picture of the dimension, he gave me a blank stare and recommended me seeking out professional help. After a long discussion and some threats regarding Gai-san (for once this was no real threat to him) and Anko-san (she was a threat) joining our meeting, Hatake-san drew a sparse picture where every object was represented in either a horizontal or vertical line of different lengths. Nothing more. The colours seemed to match with his students' drawings. _

_Hatake-san shows extreme repulsiveness to the shinobi soap bars, because everything in the foreign dimension smelled like said object. He also mentions a particular spice, thyme, which he strongly connects with the taste of soap. A newly founded hate.  
When I pulled a soap bar out of a bag, Hatake-san acted too fast for me to react and threw it out of the window, which was closed. (Please, send a repair-team for a new window, Hokage-sama.)_

_I advise a very, very slow increase of scent-cancelling soap bar pieces back into his life. Hatake-san is not expected to use them anytime soon, just to grow comfortable with the sight of the object first. Then we will try and get him to use the soap again, but this might take longer than anticipated, judging by his violent reaction to my soap bar and window._

_Mental changes are a happier expression and tone when talking about Hatake-san's students and a reported increase in physical affection towards them.  
Hatake-san seems to find joy in inside jokes about the team's relationship and how which teammates function, calling Tenko-san the team's mama bear, for example. But I cannot find the joke in this statement.  
Physically, he is the same._

* * *

_Tenko was cooperative but reserved at questions about her person.  
We don't have too much data on her social interactions with strangers since she mostly kept her distance from the civilians. _

_The summon is more comfortable with Team 7 now and reports her willing offer as a pillow for the children to hold in the night or when they needed comfort and affection. She clearly feels pride in those actions, supporting Hatake-san's statement of the fox being the Team's mother. Tenko-san had mentioned their sensei to be the strange uncle in the team. I am not completely sure, what she is implying or if they are inside-references._

_She also told me about her personal achievements in her chakra control and fighting abilities, but Tenko-san clearly dismisses the offensive ones. She talks her own development down while basically singing songs of praise about Naruto-kun, Sakura, the old man/Kakashi and the duckling._

_I skipped the question to draw a picture and let the summon instruct me like Sakura-kun did before. The fox admitted to not like the colours and combinations too much and reported the sting in her eyes after her nightly watches. She is not traumatised by them like Sakura-kun.  
Clear dislike was towards the soap scent and the 'Kakashi-sun' which caused the colours to be more pungent at certain times of the day. Dimming lamps were added to her list of dislikes.  
Tenko-san also votes for burning soap factories, giving me reason to be concerned. _

_When I asked her about the emotional outbursts, she barely mentioned them – still implying Sasuke-kun had one as well, which he did not admit to himself -, but when I asked her if she lived through one as well, the summon immediately closed up and became defensive.  
I later on asked Hatake-san if he knew more about it. He said this was a temporary taboo, but he would personally deal with this._

_I advise for Tenko-san to stay in close proximity with her team and also meet new people for more socialising. Her fixation on Team 7 helps her find a place and purpose among ninjas, which she might not be completely aware of by now.  
She should also be encouraged to spar with her team and work on her offense. Her immense fear of dying could, untreated, cause problems for her team on future missions._

_Physically, Tenko-san shows no difference; mentally she is more attached to Team 7 and took over the role for emotional support. She get very defensive when I mention anything about summons, to which Hatake-san told me, and I repeat, to 'keep my nose out of his business'."_

.

Living together at Naruto's place was surprisingly peaceful if you ignored the sudden arguments and all the bickering about the smallest things.  
Sakura has gone back to her home three times to get more clothes and her ninja attire. Once, she saw her parents and only told them to contact her, when they grew up and truly apologised to Naruto.

As much as Sakura missed her parents, the shock to know they were just like all the other civilians who mistreated or avoided her friend was hard for her.  
Naruto tried to ensure her he was fine and maybe her parents didn't mean the hateful look they gave the blonde boy. Sakura didn't buy it and used the sadness and anger in her system for multiple short, violent training session every day. It always ended in wild destruction.

Sasuke and Tenko took turns who went with her and oversaw the damage she did to her surroundings, because their pink-haired teammate wouldn't look at Naruto for too long in shame of her parent's behaviour.

It was the day before the Chunin exam and Sasuke busied himself with some katas and jutsu Kakashi taught him a week ago, when a loud crash disrupted his concentration.  
Behind him, Sakura had managed to fell one of the smaller trees with a quick combination of jabs and punches. She looked up in bewilderment, not having expected the result.

"Okay, that's enough! You will suck it up right now, give Naruto a hug or whatever you guys do and then talk with your parents. This is getting ridiculous!" Sasuke hissed loudly for his teammate to hear.

"Wh-pardon?"

"I said move your ass, make up with the dope and tell your parents to use their brains. Make them meet our idiot or whatever. But I refuse to mother you anymore so ask the fox for that."

With a dramatic spin on his heels, Sasuke left the training ground and went back to Naruto's apartment. He had enough of the damn tiptoeing around the girl. If she really wanted to become the badass kunoichi she told them about, Sakura had to grow herself a pair!  
Figuratively speaking.

Around noon, the door to Uzumaki's apartment was slowly pushed open and Sakura creeped inside. With hesitant movements, she went through the living room to Naruto's bedroom, where the boy spent his time to prepare their bags for the exam.

Sasuke and Tenko would check the contents afterwards, just to be sure, but Naruto was responsible enough to pack everything they needed. The colour dimension taught them all what they truly needed for surviving in a foreign territory, and the list of necessities was surprisingly short if you had enough skills.

Sakura stood in front of the wooden door for a few minutes, hand raised to knock.

"Sweety, come inside. I can smell your stress level inside the room," came the fox's voice muffled by the door and Sakura shrieked at the betrayal. The only comfort was the new nickname Tenko sometimes used for the girl. Mostly, when emotional support was needed.

Sakura took a deep breath and entered the room, just to be welcomed by the sight of gigantic piles of shuriken, kunai, ninja wire, explosive tags, the rest of their bone weapons and bunches of senbon. Even the furs they had slept on were stored to the side.

"Naruto, are you going into war?" The blonde scratched the back of his head and gave a big grin.

"Nah, this is for the three of us. Last time we had to make new weapons and I want to be sure we don't have to kill animals for their bones this time around."

"We won't," Sakura agreed at the ridiculously high number of weapons. "Where did you get all this stuff?"

"Sasuke-teme found a dusty storage room in one of the empty buildings on his compound when we went there yesterday. He wanted to get all the stuff he would be needing, and we roamed around. Then he found this hidden door and voila! A room filled with weapons to the brim. This is only a small part, actually."

Sakura was speechless.  
Not only because Sasuke was willing to share his clan's possessions with his teammates, but he also accepted Naruto's help to carry his things, allowed him into the compound and even roamed around together.  
If you'd told the girl about those things a couple of months ago, she would have laughed in your face for the bad joke.

"So, what do you need, Sakura-chan?" Oh, right. Sakura cleared her throat and initiated eye contact for the first time in four days.

"I wanted to apologise for my stupid behaviour. You are not as fragile as I treated you and, as much as it hurts me, between the two of us, you are used to those… looks. I will go over to my parents and have a talk with them next. And- yeah, can I have a hug?"

If there was one thing Team 7 did to strengthen their teamwork for some time now, it was hugging. Tenko had started it when she stayed with Kiba and his family and Naruto and Sakura were happy to follow after the fox.  
Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke still had to come around, but Sakura knew about their improvements – they only needed time, she was sure of it.

.

Like Sasuke said, 'hug and make up' was the strategy to go with for his teammates and the pink-haired girl sat down with her parents the whole afternoon and talked with them about their attitude towards Naruto and that she knew about the Kyuubi.  
Sakura also couldn't help herself to not lecture her parents about the concept of seals and she even gave them the Seals 101 Iruka-sensei used back in the academy.

When she came back to Naruto's place in the evening, her face wore a relieved smile and Sakura shared an idea she got when teaching her parents about Naruto's case and comparing the boy with a simple storage seal.

The pre-packed bags were emptied, and everyone got a scroll with multiple storage seal to put their weapons, clothes, water bottles and medical kits into. Whatever would be awaiting them, Team 7 was armed to their teeth.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kakashi had made two more attempts to talk with the fox about her body-problem until the day before the exam, but she always reacted the same and harshly ended their conversation. Still a taboo, then.  
The Jonin was not stupid enough to confront the fox right before the exam, he knew how much stress his cute little Genin plus Tenko were feeling and an angered or upset teammate was nothing his students should be dealing with.  
So, Kakashi would have to wait until after the second exam. And then, the fox would have no chance or excuse to avoid the conversation.

The Jonin rubbed his face in frustration. God, he was talking too much with others about their problems thanks to the damn fox and he was not the talkative type of man. Never had anyone told him, he'd have to hold so many conversations with his team, or maybe his was just a special case. Either way, Kakashi wanted this conflict to be over.

* * *

The day finally arrived. The first day of the Chunin exam!

Naruto was antsy enough for ten people, Sakura became more nervous with every minute and started worrying about her outfit, her new hairdo and who knows what, Sasuke gave everyone unimpressed glares to hide his own excitement.  
Tenko felt ready to puke, because they would have to fight against other people. Dear god, why couldn't she be on some isolated island right now? Naruto tied the new Hitai-ate around her neck and Sakura brushed her fur to 'look nice'.  
Who the hell cared for her appearance when they wandered into their death?!

Sasuke told the fox to stop exaggerating so much or to shut up. At least he gave he a choice.

The walk to the academy was too short for the summon and she annoyed even Sakura by repeatedly asking where they had to go. In all her nervousness she kept forgetting.

"For the last time, it's Room 301. Now calm down. Your nervous blabbering affects the dope and he will get us kicked out," an annoyed Sasuke pointed his thumb at the blonde, whose movements looked very mechanical.

"O-oh, sorry." Tenko tried her best to push her own anxiety away with a deep breathing exercise. She did not want to cause the pre-teens more problems and Tenko was very familiar with how bad Naruto could react at exams with too much self-made pressure.  
When the fox finally grounded herself and used a mantra of '_stay calm for the kids, stay calm for the kids, stay calm for the kids_', she turned to her blonde friend.

"Naruto, sweetheart. Try to calm down a bit, too. We will go into this exam to come out with three Chunin vests, so show me that pretty smile of yours."  
The reminder of becoming Chunin did the trick and Naruto turned back into the ray of sunshine he was.  
Sakura gave Tenko an impressed look at how easily the right words could brighten their teammate up, Sasuke gave an amused sound at the simplicity of Naruto's mood change, but didn't tease any further.

Inside the academy, Team 7 went up the stairs and noticed a commotion after entering the floor. Many teens were gathered around the door of room 301 and when two teens tried to get inside, they were punched back by equally old guards.

Tenko froze in her step. _Oh dear_… the boy on the ground. It was a chibi-Gai!  
Bewildered, she quickly took cover behind her friends' legs and peeked around them to just observe the scene.

The fox was no expert on intimidation tactics, but Tenko was sure the boys in front of the door did just that. But weren't they all the same age? How did they know so much about the previously failed teams or would try to scare the participants away? And.. why was there a young version of Maito Gai?  
It was worth pointing out the obviousness to Tenko's silent questions, but the overwhelmed fox was not about to really analyse the situation.

When Sasuke pointed the genjutsu out and gave Sakura a backhanded compliment for her analytical abilities, one of the two guards suddenly jumped into the air to kick Sasuke, who, in turn, started his own attack.  
A green flash appeared between both boys and the chibi-Gai stopped their attacks with his bare hands.

His teammates protested his interference with their plan to stay low, but this was useless now. If Tenko was right and the Genin were students of Gai, they could be nothing but physically strong. Three weeks of training from the youthful man were enough for the fox to know that.

Suddenly the guy with the gall to attack the Uchiha boy turned to Team 7 and gave them a once over.  
"And what is it with you? Try to impress the competition by walking around with a summon?"

This nearly made Team 7 laugh out loud.  
Just the implication that Tenko would be their symbol of strength was hilarious enough.  
Tenko took a deep breath, but didn't fight the silly grin which showed her teeth.

"I promise, you don't want to test us."  
And Tenko really hoped they wouldn't. A bluff was only affective for as long as people believed in it and did not test the summon's true abilities.

With arrogant smirks, the Genin played along and they were about to go on, when the chibi-Gai appeared in front of Sakura and gave a bow.

"My name is Rock Lee and might you be Sakura-san?"

"Huh?"

"I would like to date you and I promise to protect you with my life!"  
Stunned silence.

Sakura was visibly about to turn down the request, when Tenko beat the girl to speak.

"Young man, you cannot just ask our Sakura such a thing. And in front of so many people, really? Is that what a gentleman does nowadays?"  
Another deep bow from the green-clad teen followed and he said/yelled:  
"You are right, honourable summon-san! It was a truly unyouthful act and I apologise! Your understanding on proper manners is truly youthful! To show myself worthy, I will run 100 laps around Konoha and practise on my confession!"

An hand snatched his ear and pulled Lee away from Team 7.

"Yes, yes, you do that, but first, let us pass the exam." His female teammate said and Team 7 finally was able to go on.

"Tenko-chan, why did you do that? Now he will try again!" Sakura was indignant with the fox, who gave a long sigh.

"You can still turn him down later, sweety, but I didn't want you to do it in front of so many people. It was tactless to ask you in public, yes, but please do it in private, okay?" After some brooding Sakura nodded.  
Sasuke and Naruto were still busy dealing with the force of nature that Lee was.

"Tenko, was that- I mean… he fits the description of…" Naruto tried to find his words.

"No. I am sure, he is Gai-sensei's student, but they do look the same, frightenedly so."

"There are two of them?" Sasuke stared at the fox and his teammates couldn't help but laugh at the shock in the Uchiha's face.

"Maa, it is great to see you in such high spirits, my cute little Genin."  
Kakashi waved at his students and gave an eye-smile.

"Sensei!" Sakura and Naruto cried out and gave the man a hug. The Jonin did not tense anymore, just gave them pats on their backs and ruffled their hair.  
"What are you doing here, sensei?" Sakura asked and looked up with a huge smile.

"You see, a cat crossed my path so I had to go around it and ended up here. So I decided to wait for you and wish you the best of luck. Not that you would need it, of course." There was a short pause. "And a fellow kunoichi of yours with a certain bowl-head in her grip asked me to thank 'summon-san' for saving her teammate's dignity?"

"Yeah, Lee-kun kind of confessed to Sakura in front of an audience and I kind of delayed the rejection for him to keep face."

"You made him practice his confession until the exam is over. And you gave the poor boy hope." Naruto commented drily.

"Traitor."

"He did _what_?!" There was a strange pitch to Kakashi's voice and when the kids looked up, they saw a widened eye and watched their sensei gasp for air.  
"Oh no. Not on my watch! Go and kick ass, my cute little Genin! You are strong enough to punch everyone into the ground and I am really proud of your achievements in individual strength and as a team. Now, please excuse me, I have to hunt down a certain person to talk about the safety of my precious students' innocence!"

And off the man went in a puff of chakra and leaves.

Team 7 has long ago accepted the strangeness their members brought with them, so the Genin shrugged Kakashi's reaction to fight for Sakura's chastity off and entered Room 301.


	20. Chapter 20

Inside, many dangerous-looking, huge people mingled around and Tenko was sure to pass out the moment one of those scarred giants came over to them.  
Sasuke gave her a light kick into the side to keep her shit together and a loud shriek effectively distracted the fox from panicking.

Ino attached herself to the Uchiha's arm and no matter how much he shook said limb or gave her the annoyed look, the blonde did not let go.  
But Ino gave a heated glare to Sakura before her eyes grew bigger and bigger.

"What happened to your _hair_, billboard-brow?!" Sakura for her part shrugged her shoulders.

"A rabbit and Kakashi-sensei." Shikamaru and Choji, who followed after their female teammate with less vigour, gave each other questioning looks, but didn't bother to ask.

"Troublesome." Choji nodded, opened a new bag of chips and started munching his snack.

"Let go of me," Sasuke said after trying to shake the girl off with fruitless effort.

"But Sasuke-kun, we haven't seen each other in such a long time. I really missed you!"

"Ino-chan, let go of Sasuke-teme. He doesn't like it," the calm but determined voice of Naruto surprised Team 10 and even Choji stopped eating for two full seconds.

"Naruto, what happened to you? Where is your loud twin?" Shikamaru joked in surprise, but he gave a suspicious glance at the blonde. This time Sakura interrupted.

"Naruto-kun has always been like this, Shikamaru-kun. We just didn't take the time to really talk to him."

"Billboard-brow, are you sick?" A throbbing vein appeared on Sakura's eyebrow, but before she could counter, a new voice was cutting in.

"Hey, dead-last. I am surprised to see you guys here. So, all of the Rookie 9 take the exam?" Kiba gave his usual cocky grin and slapped Naruto on the back with just a bit too much force than necessary.  
"Tell me, what did they do for your pre-test? We had our possessions stolen and had to track the responsible Chunin down. And capture him, of course."

"Pre… test?" Naruto asked in confusion, looking to his teammates for support. What was the dog-breath talking about?

"Yeah, the one to join the exam. How did you deal with it? I bet, the great Uchiha had to pull your weight," came another remark from the Inuzuka.

"Why would there be a pre-test?" Tenko asked this time and Team 7 was too confused to react to the brunette's insult towards his peer's strength.

"It's for us rookies. Because we are new, Hokage-sama wanted to make sure we are skilled enough to participate," the Nara heir was kind enough to elaborate with an expression showing he clearly wanted to be anywhere else.

"But… we had no pre-test." Sakura said and tilted her head in question.

"Huh?!" Team 10 plus Kiba said. Hinata and Shino were too silent for such a reaction and the Hyuga heiress was too busy breathing and not fainting in the three-metre-radius around Naruto she stood in.

"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei told us he'd nominate us and then he gave us the registration forms and here we are. There was no test." The confirmation of Naruto made everyone else just more confused. Meanwhile, Sasuke managed to get his fangirl off of him and quickly pressed himself between his teammates for the safety of his personal space.

.

_Seven days ago_

Kakashi was standing in front of the Hokage with his fellow colleagues for the exam nomination. Some teams already chickened out, but the Copy-ninja held his head high. _His_ Genin were ready.

They survived in another dimension with limited resources while fighting and hunting with crude tools made of bone next to their decreasing number of weapons. And they all were so much better than before.

Sasuke used a few dozens jutsu for evasion and attack and his second elemental affinity came along slowly but it was a steady process. His taijutsu only improved since day one.  
Naruto knew a few jutsu from the earth, fire and water elements – not meaning he was particularly good at any of them, but he could use this wide repertoire to surprise his opponent - and his training with wind chakra came along, too. Kakashi made a mental note to ask Asuma for help.

Sakura showed promise in a chakra-infused, offensive taijutsu style – Kakashi would call it brawling and by now, without a strong-enough opponent, it was not even worth calling it a fight, the girl could kill boars with one punch! – and her use of nin- and genjutsu were also developing nicely.

Then there was Tenko. Had she been a human student of his, no way in hell would she be allowed to join, Kakashi decided easily. But she was not the team's offensive power, so it was fine. Tenko was a profound dodger in hand-to-hand combat and if she'd just finally loose the hesitation to use her teeth, she could become decent enough supportive fighter.

"I, Hatake Kakashi, am the Jonin sensei of Team 7, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura… and Tenko." This made Gai chuckle in the background. "I nominate my team for the Chunin exam."

Kurenai and Asuma did the same and everything turned out peachy, but then Iruka-sensei piped up and voiced his concerns, mostly for Naruto.  
And if this act of mother-hen-ism did one think, it pissed Kakashi off.

His logical side told the man, Iruka was just worried for the children, but there laid the problem. They were so much more than children now. They were growing up and sheltering only did one thing, hold them back from improving, physically and mentally.  
And there the emotional side of Kakashi came into play. His students grew so very much on their last trip and shared their personal problems. They started to trust their teammates enough to open themselves and especially Naruto did not only find acceptance, but his teammates also supported him in his training and offered more patience. To hold them back from the exam could cause emotional unbalance in his team, to Sasuke it would definitely.

"I don't think you understand, Iruka-sensei. Naruto-kun is my student now, as are Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan. The moment they graduated, they became soldiers and had to leave their childhood behind. And don't assume their abilities from what you saw back in the academy."

Kakashi's voice was harsh, but he gave himself a mental pat on the shoulder for the nice formulation of his words. He would have been harder, stricter, but a small voice reminded him that the man in front of him had no idea what a wild camping trip his previous students lived through. And Iruka-sensei just wanted to know them to be safe.

Before the little argument had any space to heat up, Sarutobi cleared his throat.  
"How about we decide on a compromise? Chunin will test each rookie team for their skills to take the exam."

Iruka-sensei visible was about to agree, when the copy-nin talked again.

"I assure you, Hokage-sama, my team will not need the test. Their abilities are higher than his peers'. I would dare to say they are nearly challenging the graduation class from last year."  
This comment gained Kakashi some stinky eyes from his colleagues and a sharp breath from Gai in the background, followed by something about the hip and cool attitude of his.  
The Jonin did not fight the grin behind his mask.

Sarutobi knew why his shinobi made the bold statement and quickly tried to form a diplomatic decision.  
"I will have someone assess their skills in their usual training then. If my man verifies your statement, you will get the registration papers in the noon."

It was clear as day that nobody was too happy with the special treatment Team 7 got, but when the Third said: "This is a special case. When Kakashi-san shares the information related to Team 7's circumstances, you will understand." Everyone got the note to drop it and wait for their comrade to spill the beans.

Oh, was Kakashi ready to show off his students at their next get together! But until then, he'd enjoy the sadistic pleasure he got from withholding said information from his colleagues and tease them about it.

Tenzo was chosen to assess the Genin and after lunch, the man sent a clone to confirm Kakashi's bragging. The kids were indeed better than their peers.

.

_Back at the Chunin Exam_

"Why would they not test you g-" Kiba started, but he was interrupted by a stranger.

"Hey, it would be wise not to yell around so much. You are the new rookies, right? This is no school trip, so stop acting like you are." A grey-ish-haired guy with glasses walked over to the three teams.

"Huh? And who are you?" Ino asked loudly.

'_Seriously, woman. Didn't you hear what he said? Not so loud'_ Tenko mentally lectured her and started studying the stranger, when her mind tried to bring up an old memory that couldn't exist.

'_Huh, why-? No, I don't know him, right? The hair… with those ugly glasses. Why does it feel- is that familiarity? Did I see him in the streets of Konoha? No. I avoid them when I can. But if I never saw him before, where did I- maybe, before I came to Konoha? Nah, that's unlikely. That guy is a Genin, why would I only...?._'

"My name is Yakushi Kabuto." The smile he gave looked believable enough, but something was off. The strange sense of familiarity still tried to remind the fox of something, she was not able to remember.

Tenko attempted to be as subtle as possible, when she continued observing him. What was bothering her about him?

Team 7 stood close enough to hear Sakura's whisper.  
"Oh god… his _hair_. It is just like the Kakashi-sun at dusk." Shivers ran down the spines of Team 7 and Tenko secretly started to sniff in the young adult's direction.

He did not stink like soap, thankfully, but just when the fox was about to dull her sense of smell, the underlying trace of a disgusting and unpleasant stench assaulted her nose.

It was subtle, not noticeable if you didn't try to take apart his scent. To some part, Kabuto smelled cold, the scent was oily and reeked of stale water and rotten gras. Snakes.

"Kakashi-sun hair and he reeks of _snakes_," Tenko hissed quietly, not to let anyone eavesdrop on their short conversation. "I don't care who he is, but if the next thing he tells us is his preference for soap bars or worse, _cats_, I am out of here!"

"Aren't you exaggerating again?" Naruto asked quietly.

"I am not, thank you very much! If one thing is worse than cats, it is snakes and this guy gives me the creeps…," her voice took on a hard undertone.  
"Something about him doesn't sit right with me, you know? Like- like I've seen him before, but it's… I can't grasp the memory. It's - I don't know, only the shadow of it still exists in my mind? No- forget that. This shouldn't concern you. We are here to take your exam, not talk about my recent revelations."

Team 7 had ignored the ongoing conversation while listening to the summon and they all shot glances to Tenko and then the older Genin. Naruto and Sasuke both felt even more sceptical about this guy now.

The Uchiha boy wouldn't have trusted any stranger in this building with a plastic spoon to begin with, but what the fox said concerned Sasuke. Nothing he'd ever share with his team of idiots.  
While meeting new people Tenko usually was open when Naruto was not in any danger of bullying and, liking to admit it or not, the last Uchiha had started to trust the fox enough to go with her judgement.  
To immediately warn them about strangers only happened once last week with the red-haired Sand shinobi, who even Kakashi warned them about in his own way.

Naruto didn't know what to do or how to act. This Kabuto-guy was friendly with their Rookie group and hadn't glared at the blonde like the villagers would. But there the problem laid. His eyes and smile did not match, it was like Naruto's façade when he made everyone believe he was fine.

Tenko said she did not feel comfortable around Kabuto and she clearly was wary. Naruto would make sure his friend was safe! If than meant, they'd have to avoid Kabuto, so be it.

What deeply bothered the blonde boy was Tenko's last comment. Memories. His friend had no memories from her life before coming to Konoha, before taking over the boy of a fox summon. What did this mean, when Tenko recognised Kabuto in some way?

Sakura meanwhile directed her attention on the fox. She could trust her teammates to be suspicious enough of Kabuto for three people right now.  
The girl studied the way, Tenko's tails twitched, how her eyes stared at their old classmates and the older Genin while her mind clearly was somewhere else. Maybe trying to figure out where she saw Kabuto before? The fox as hunched over slightly, her head lowered in a defensive gesture and her ears constantly pointed around the room, searching for something.  
She was the epitome of suspicion and hostility.

Team 7 only paid attention, when Kabuto had already pulled out a stack of cards and gave two examples of his information-thingy about Rock Lee and Gaara.

Tenko had no idea if it was normal to have such a skill as Genin – especially one who reeked of snakes -, but she stored the information away for later.

Next to her, Sakura fixed the cards with a hard look and a similar thought. If the civilian born girl had learned one thing as a member of Team 7, it was a healthy dose of paranoia kept you alive on your toes, out of Naruto's traps and away from poisonous plants and animals in different dimensions.

"How can he have so many information about others?" Sasuke grunted a whisper to their group and even Naruto agreed with his rival-friend's suspicion.

Tenko was only guessing, but should the older Genin have run around and somehow gotten his fingers on all their information, Team 7 had a good chance, their recent progress hadn't been noted down anywhere by now.

"Okay, I have a new plan. We have to check how accurate his information about us are and make everyone believe you guys are still on your old skill levels. Having everyone underestimate you gives us a great advantage. I don't want Karuno-"

"Kabuto," Sakura corrected.

"I don't want snake-guy to know too much about you with his nifty information trick, understood?"  
Maybe it was the worry in her voice or the tenseness in her body, but the pre-teens gave a silent nod.

"Oh, come on, those were easy enough with the time they are Genin already. How about someone more difficult? Hmm… what can you tell us about Tenko-chan?"  
Ino suddenly asked and the fox was about to chew the girl's leg off for gaining attention from the snake-guy. What would Ino want to know about the fox? She could always ask.

"The summon, huh? You certainly gained yourself a reputation in the village." He started after drawing a card. "You have the rang of a two-tailed fox and are known around here for some months. You were known for your… company, dislike of ninja work and have no skills in nin-, gen- or taijutsu. A big struggle concerns your chakra cont-"

"Shut up!" Naruto interrupted loudly and anger-filled eyes fixed the older Genin on the spot. "How do you know those things?"  
His voice was sharper than a kunai and both his teammates quickly took an offensive stance, too. Next to them, Kiba shifted into a slightly defensive stance as well.

Kabuto seemed to notice he was no longer welcome, grabbed his cards and disappeared into the crowd without another word.

"Kami, dead-last, what was that about?" Ino asked loudly, but her attitude changed the moment she looked into Naruto's face.  
There was a hostility his old classmates never saw before and Sakura and Sasuke were just as intense. The trio used their bodies to shield the fox from the other participants in the big classroom.

"Don't any of you dare tell anyone about what you just heard or ask that guy again!" Naruto's brain was running a hundred miles per minute and he immediately searched the room for any sign of attack.

There were just a few people knowing about Tenko's lack in skills or trouble with chakra control. Kakashi had made his students swear to secrecy before letting Sakura and Sasuke in on a few of the fox's secrets. No normal Genin should know about this.  
Was he one of Danzo's spies?

Sakura and Sasuke didn't know why their blonde teammate reacted this aggressively, but they concluded it had something to do with the summon's problems they didn't know about yet.

Oh, they were not stupid, far from it, so it was obvious to them, when Naruto or Tenko stopped in their sentence and searched for excuses while they told their team about some of Tenko's worries. One time, Naruto nearly opened his mouth too wide and let the information slip that someone was after Tenko who possessed a frightening amount of insight into her case.

Having a silent conversation with their eyes, both pre-teens concluded this to be the cause of Naruto's mood.

The Rookie 9 nearly jumped out of their skin when the door was shoved open and a scary looking man with deep scars on his face barked orders around.

.

A written test.  
A god damn, theoretical test on paper.  
Never before was Tenko happier to see a written exam. Sure, Ibiki was scary as fuck, but who cared when there was no violent fighting involved?!  
Naruto strongly did, very strongly so.

The Hyuga heiress was working on her own sheet while doing her breathing exercises to not faint and Naruto was about to cry because he had no idea how to answer the questions.  
All around them people were writing, cheating and getting called out.

The fox used her body size and sneaked around tables, chairs and strangers' legs towards Sasuke. The boy made enough space on his lap for the fox to squeeze herself onto it and have a good look at the answers, while the boy's body shielded her from anyone's vision.

Doing the best she could, Tenko memorized the answers and basic formulas before tiptoeing to Naruto and getting back to the spot she sat in a couple of minutes ago.

Letting out a long, loud yawn, the summon hoped her poor act was convincing enough to resemble a quick nap.  
Sitting back on Naruto's lap, Tenko curled herself up, buried her face in her fluffy tails and started whispering the answers to Naruto.

This went well for a few questions, but the fox was no genius, making her unsure of the next answers without checking again or staring at the sheet in the open. Summon or not, the moment her head popped up and she started whispering, they would get called out. Right now, Naruto would not be able to act calm and subtle if his life depended on it.

"Sorry, sweetheart, but from now on you have to try and make the best of it. At least, the two maths problems and the question about ninja rule 15 and 21.b are done. Good luck."  
This time Tenko truly tried to fall asleep.

Hinata had observed the short play next to her and felt worried. Naruto would not be able to answer any more questions at this rate. Slower than a snail her sheet was pushed towards her crush and to the girl unknown bravery made her able to whisper.

"Naruto-kun… y-you can c-c-copy from m-me." Tenko opened one eye and looked up at the shy owner of the soft voice.  
'_Oh dear, this girl deserves a cookie. And smelling salt judging by the colour of her face_.'

But Naruto, sweet, stupid Naruto did not cheat from Hinata, because in his opinion, he did not have to cheat!

'_Well, what were you doing with my help then? Offering it to the foreign nin to your left_?'  
Tenko and Hinata gave each other clueless looks and the fox shrugged her shoulders. Hopefully, Hinata wouldn't assume, Naruto did not reject the help because she was Hinata.

Time went by and when Naruto asked Tenko for some more help, she finally got the information to his previous statement.

The blonde Uzumaki thought Tenko gave him her own answers like she did in their usual teamwork or when she had helped him with homework for school. In his eyes, accepting other's answers, like from Hinata, would be cheating, but since Tenko was his official summon, friend and partner, her 'own' knowledge was acceptable.

"Naruto, are you really that blond?!" Tenko hissed at him as quietly as possible. Earning the surprised looks from Naruto, Hinata and the foreign nin to their left, Tenko was not as silent as she'd hoped to be.  
"Never mind, just do some breathing exercises and calm down. If you faint from stress, you won't get far in this exam." She grumbled and buried herself under her tails for a nap.

The ground under Tenko shifted and she fell from Naruto's lap to the ground under the table. With a startled yelp the fox barely managed to land on her paws and sleepily glared up at Naruto, when she finally noticed that he was talking loudly in his usual speech-for-generations-to-come-voice.

'_Dear god, how long was I asleep_?'

Still trying to orientate herself, Ibiki's deep voice suddenly told the participants present they had passed the tenth question and therefore the first exam.  
The tenth question was some sort of mind game, to test the mental strength of the Genin and the Uzumaki's speech had boosted enough people's courage to stay put.

And then the scariest thing in the entire world happened. Ibiki grinned. His face and scars nearly split with a huge grin while he talked.

Tenko was ready to be done for the day.  
This was a god damn, stupid written test. Why did ninjas have to make such a big deal about everything?

Starting to climb her way up to the bench, Tenko tried to pull herself from under the table, but Naruto still stood and blocked most of the space. The fox tried to get up without being able to simply jump and her hind legs didn't reach the bench, so her butt dangled around while Tenko tried crawling herself into the wood.  
Two hands went under Tenko and pushed her up. Sweet, shy Hinata gave the summon the needed push and now offered a small smile which was returned.

"Thank you, Hinata-chan. My blockhead of a friend here wasn't too troublesome while I was asleep, I hope."  
She sat herself next to the girl and invited Hinata to pet the fox. The poor heiress surely earned it after having to deal with Naruto's temporary periods of idiocy with his personal understanding of cheating.

And Tenko wanted Hinata not to change her opinion about Naruto, because the fox liked to entertain the idea of helping the shy girl to finally get noticed by the blonde Uzumaki. The question was how, but maybe Tenko should wait until after the exam when Naruto's one-track-mind was not focussed on his ninja path alone.

Ibiki went on about the importance of information on a mission and even showed the scars on his head. Ew, that was just… ew.  
The man went on and on about what false information could do to you, how this test was to find information with the danger of getting caught and how the tenth question made all of then decide for the whole team and blah blah blah.

Tenko was still convinced the man exaggerated a written exam.

Suddenly the window shattered, and someone fixed a big banner with Kunai to the front of the room. A woman stood up and Tenko was sure she'd pale if she was a human right now. Anko.

* * *

In her ghost form Tenko had seen the woman two times and it was two times too much in her opinion.

The first time, Tenko was walking through people to entertain herself with something, when she saw the woman sitting and eating at the dango shop. What was noticeable was her chakra.

Tenko could feel people's chakra intermingle to some extent when people were in a group, but this woman… her chakra was mixed.  
There wasn't just her own chakra, but something dark, foreign as well. Tenko felt her transparent body reject even the feeling of it and her defences went up without conscious control.

Some shinobi was making a snide comment about Anko, something like traitors shouldn't be allowed to be on active duty at all and he called Anko a sick snake-woman. At the mention of snakes, a shiver went down Tenko's back. She did not like them, but she also did not like public displays of name-calling.

One moment Anko was eating her dango and the next the wooden stick was pressed against the man's throat and a dark grin crossed over the woman's face. Without saying a word, she slowly turned and left the shop while throwing the dango stick into the wooden wall behind the rude shinobi. Right under his earlobe, nicking his skin just so slightly.

The second time was only a month later, when Tenko was taking a walk through the Forest of Death. Since nothing was able to harm her, she decided to take a look around and get to know the place most people seemed to be wary of or took a long way around.

There were uncomfortably big bugs and animals Tenko would not look at in a zoo, but this surely couldn't be as much of a danger as everyone had made Tenko believe to be, right?

Tenko stood somewhere in the middle of the dark forest, surrounded by bugs and what not, some surely more poisonous than others, when a familiar woman jumped over Tenko in the trees.  
It was Anko and her chakra was still tainted with the foreign chakra signature.

She seemed to be training, throwing kunai, senbon and even the stick of the dango she was still chewing on. Dead animals rained down from wherever the weapons were disappearing to and Tenko ran away from the falling bodies while shrieking in disgust.

Nothing could touch her and would just pass through Tenko, but actually letting this happen? No! That was just disgusting!

The transparent woman was still busy voicing out her strong dislike, when snakes shot out of Anko's jacket's sleeves. Out of her _sleeves_. And they rained down on her, well, on the tiger behind Tenko, but they still had to pass through her on their way.  
This was the only time Tenko managed to faint out of disgust thanks to the snakes Anko was throwing around.

* * *

Said woman was introducing herself to the Genin when she seemed to notice her early entrance and she bickered about how many Genin still were present. When in trouble, blame someone else, right?

Tenko was not sure if Anko was part of the intimidation squat Ibiki seemed to be part of, but she made the second exam sound scary.

Then they were dismissed for the rest of the day and Tenko kept very close to her friends to not accidentally get kicked by some wild leg from one of the Genin around them.

.

When the room was empty, Ibiki started collecting the exam sheets and his eyes fell on the one from Uzumaki Naruto. He had filled out three questions, two math problems and one about the ninja rules.

What made his answer noticeable was the things he wrote down. Both math answers only showed the general formulas - which were written completely wrong, like the boy had someone dictate them to him – and the direct result.

The rules were right from their content, but to Ibiki it sounded like the boy just wrote down the basic ideas while no word matched with the rule book. In the upper right-hand corner Uzumaki had made a doodle from a two-tailed fox grinning at the man from the T&I department.

Ibiki was not sure if he preferred those strange half-answers or if the boy should have left everything blank. He had noticed the boy only wrote for two or three minutes in the first half of the test and then denied copying from his seat-neighbour, which would have failed them both and their teams for the pure obviousness.

Really, what a strange boy Uzumaki Naruto was. And Ibiki had let him pass.

.

Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai waited for their teams outside of the academy when the passed Genin left the building with big, bright smiles.  
Kakashi quickly checked on his students with a calculating look and behind the joy to have passed the first exam, there was a strange air over the quartet.

Team 8 and 10 were the first to reach the three Jonin and tell them all about the trick tenth question in loud, complaining voices. Well, at least Kiba and Ino did. Asuma and Kurenai just gave them patient smiles and praised the kids for a job well done.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei. We passed!" Naruto gave a big grin, but the Jonin saw the light stain in his blonde student's face. His façade was up again.

"Maa, this is great to hear, but Naruto-kun, what was Team 7's rule number three again?" Kakashi gave them an eye-smile and a pat on the head for their passed test.  
Naruto lost the smile, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration and then a lightbulb lightened in his head.

"Ah!" The boy gave a wry grin before his whole expression went serious. "Sorry, sensei. I thought this was a Team 7-only rule." With the tilt of his head Naruto pointed at the rest of the Rookie 9 next to them, who seemed a bit weirded out.

Sakura let out a deep sigh and patted Naruto's shoulder.  
"No, we were alone on our trip. The rule is valid all the time, Naruto."

"What rule?" Shikamaru asked with a face that said nothing would be less boring than his peer's conversation.

"Nothing really." Sakura dismissed the question with the wave of her hand. Nobody from Team 7 wanted to share Naruto's insecurities without said boy's consent. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow but did not ask again.

"Well then, I think we should better get you home, before your parents get too worried or Kakashi gets another chance to find Gai and make another fuss about his duty to protect his precious female Genin's innocence from Gai's student."

Sakura buried her face in her hands out of embarrassment, while Naruto fought the laughter bubbling up inside of him.  
The thought alone to see their sensei lecture another colleague because his strange student asked Sakura out was more than hilarious.  
Sasuke gave a small grin and Kurenai groaned unladylike at the reminder with a pitying smile. Tenko just rubbed her head on Sakura's leg, but she did not fight the chuckling.

Team 8 and 10 were about to leave, when the fox saw something greyish in the corner of her eye. Turning her head, Tenko saw Kabuto enter a side-street while glancing at the Rookie 9. He seemed just as surprised to meet the summon's eyes as she was to meet his.  
Immediately, Tenko's look darkened and she bared her teeth at the young man, who quickly continued on his way.

"Wait a moment," the fox called out to the kids and gained their attention. "Kids, do me a favour, will you?" The questioning eyes were enough for Tenko to continue.  
"Whatever might happen from now on in the exam, promise me to not get close to this Kabuto-guy. I don't trust him and you shouldn't, either."

The look Tenko got from Kakashi promised a nice little talk and the fox quickly told him: "I tell you as soon as we all get home."

Asuma and Kurenai shared a confused look at the strange request from the summon, but since Kakashi trusted Tenko enough to act serious about it, they would do the same. Asuma then looked up at said man.  
"Kakashi, tomorrow evening I expect you at the usual bar to tell us what this and what my dad said is about." This was no question. Kakashi would not join them when the bunch of them asked to come together, so they took to decide on those things.

With a short nod Kakashi turned around and shooed his students to Naruto's apartment.

.

Team 7 was sitting on and around the big couch in Naruto's living and dining room when Kakashi urged Tenko to tell him what her strange request was about.

"Maybe we should change our tactics and start talking our opponents to death. We are practicing enough of that." Tenko mumbled to herself and Sasuke agreed with a "Hn" of his.

"No one would have to fear for their life in a fight against Sasuke-teme." Naruto tried to lighten the mood and Sakura snorted with laughter.  
Their sensei sighed loudly and rubbed his face, allowing himself a moment to vocalise the stress Tenko caused in him and the higher-ups.

"I appreciate your sense of humour, Naruto-kun, but I still want to know why Tenko warned the others about this Kabuto."

"Oh, he was really strange, sensei. His smile and body language were a bit off, you know? Kabuto-kun was trying a bit too much, like Naruto on his bad days. I don't think we would have picked it up if it wasn't for the experience we got with this guy here." Sakura started talking and then pointed her thumb at their blonde teammate.

Kakashi made sure to pick up every word they said to analyse them. Another Genin trying to befriend others with a fake persona? Not that this never happened before.

"You can always come across someone who tries to get their way into your group on every mission. Intel gathering is not forbidden on the Chunin Exam." The Jonin explained.

"Yeah, but he was- he was… strange. I don't know what it was, but somehow, I seemed to recognise him, Kakashi. I never saw him in my time here, so, how come my mind rings the danger bells at his sight and tries to remind me of something? It was a bit like with Gaara just- I am sure I saw him before. And he had a bad smell to him! Like snakes."

The copy-ninja listened to Tenko's attempt to put her feelings and worries into words.  
"You remember him? From before?"

"No, I- uh, maybe? I don't know. Somehow his profile is familiar to me, but I am sure I never met him before and I don't remember people I saw just once on the streets. And he reeks of snakes. Snakes are evil and he-"

"He had too many information," Sasuke interrupted the fox's stumbling over explanations and Sakura thumbed a fist into her other palm at the boy's reminder.

"Oh, right! He did no intel gathering, sensei, because he had those strange cards with information about all the participants. They were full analyses of people's abilities and skills. He even had some about Tenko-chan!"

Kakashi's eye narrowed at the mention of Tenko's information.  
"What did he know?"

"Some general facts about my personality, my lack in any type of jutsu and my previous struggle with chakra control. Before he was able to spill all my flaws out, Naruto stopped him.  
Nobody should know about my problems but you guys and Kiba to some extent. But he promised he would keep it a secret and Tsume-san said something about the pack and trust in every member. I don't think Kiba would tell anyone."

"I will contact Hokage-sama and request surveillance. Wherever Kabuto got his information, he can't be sent by Danzo." Kakashi said with a nod.

"Danzo as in Council member and war veteran Danzo? Why would he have information on Tenko-chan?" Sakura asked and her sensei, Naruto and Tenko froze on the spot.  
Two heads slowly turned to the Jonin and Naruto gave his best Uchiha-glare.

"We have _not_ told them about Danzo yet."

"Oh." Kakashi had the decency to look embarrassed. "I had thought Tenko-chan planned to finally tell them after our… sleepover."

"No, but I have to give them a brief overview now." Tenko huffed at the man before turning to the pre-teens.

"Okay, I guess you two are smart enough to already know about the… gaps in the things we told you about me, right?"

"Hn, like that wasn't obvious."  
"Ditto."  
Tenko nodded once.

"Good. I actually expected you to ask us about it but thank you for respecting my privacy. So, you already know what a mess I seem to be and how much trouble loves me.  
The thing is, Danzo had his own secret ANBU groups called Root. His subordinates were real creeps without emotions or real names, and he showed some interest in me. Well, in my circumstances, to be precise.

"The old fucker wanted me dead at first, but then he got interested in the idea of soul transfer for whatever reason, since I basically run on chakra transfusion.  
He was in contact with Orochimaru, the nuke-nin Sannin and mad scientist, who shared his own ideas on a soul transfer in a letter to the old cyclops.  
Long story short, Hokage-sama raided Root, Danzo took the coward's way out by killing himself and now the files concerning me still get decrypted."

After about one minute of silence, Sasuke pressed his thumb and index finger against the bridge of his nose with a deep sigh.  
"You are worse that the dope."

Sakura nodded.  
"Did it ever occur to you that dropping so many unbelievable bombs on us is a bit difficult to handle? Not that we don't appreciate your honesty, but-"

"You are a body-thief who leeches on a tailed beast's chakra and are target of crazy people with powerful influence." Sasuke summarised.

"What Sasuke-kun said. And now Kabuto appears with too much insight. How does he fit into the picture? And what next? Will some alien race visit next to tell us you come from outer space?"

"Sakura-chan, you are getting ridiculous." Kakashi tried to be of any help in this strange conversation.

"Oh, you seriously expect me not to count on this possibility when Tenko is a whole circus of craziness?"

"Hey! I did not choose this, you know? And Danzo was a creep to begin with. _I_ was put into this situation and have to _somehow_ deal with it." Tenko protested.

"_We_ have to deal with it, stupid." The fox's mouth fell open at the Uchiha's words and even Kakashi gave the boy a surprised but impressed look.

"You know, teme, I think you are alright." Naruto gave a big grin to which Sasuke tried to play down his statement with a "Hn" and a bored glare.

Having his students develop the sense of team spirit and the willingness to put up with the damn fox's problems filled Kakashi with pride as much as it troubled him.  
Would Danzo still be alive, his cute, little Genin had no chance against the man's attack. But what was Kakashi useful for when not to be at his students' side to protect them?  
His wish to see his team flourish and grow strong together was forming in reality and for nothing in this world would the Jonin allow anyone to hurt them.

But Tenko's problems sadly made up a good part of the danger. Kakashi was sure he just aged a few more years once again. Give him five months and he will retire together with Sarutobi-sama.

"Okay, I think we have to update our team rules." The copy-ninja decided and pulled out a note from one of his vest pockets. As did the children from their bags laying in the corner of the room.  
They all had started to make the rules in the colour dimension and agreed to each have a copy for reference.

Kakashi started to re-read the existing rules.

"Rules of Team 7

1\. No jutsu tests for Tenko without supervision and a safe distance from non-shinobi.  
2\. Sasuke and Naruto are not allowed to test flammable, explosive and/or crippling jutsu on each other.  
3\. Naruto's façade is not necessary when around Team 7's members.  
4\. No one should hide their feelings and opinions if it could have bad effects on their mental health.  
5\. Sasuke's plan on vengeance is team business.  
5.1. As are all dreams and future plans of Team 7.  
6\. Sakura is not allowed to test her punches on Team 7 except in spars with enough preparation and warning for her team members or a medic present.  
6.1. No chakra-infused punches on the head, Sakura.  
7\. Kakashi is not allowed to be late more than two hours. Or he has to announce it beforehand.  
8\. Tenko is not allowed to bite her teammates for social justice.  
8.1 Light nipping is allowed in case of bad-mouthing, harsh insults, unfair behaviour, favouritism, fangirling – should this illness ever come back.

And now the new rule:  
9\. If you run into any problem with an opponent you are no match for, no matter who of Team 7 the target might be, run."

His students took a moment to think about the rule.

"What if we can match them as a team?" Naruto asked.  
'_Ah, the great case of loopholes again_,' Kakashi noted.

"9.1 If, and _only if_ you are a match for your opponent, you are to engage the battle." Kakashi agreed. By now he learned to give his students some space to act in or he has to have another long discussion again.

"Agreed." Sakura said and wrote down the new addition on her sheet.

"Hn." Sasuke did the same and after some pondering Naruto complied.

.

The rest of the day Team 7 filled the storage seal for foods after Kakashi told them about a survival test of sorts.  
The pre-teens nearly laughed at their sensei's words, since they would be in Konoha for the second exam and not send into other dimensions.

At the mentioned probability of fighting, Naruto and Sasuke gave their own versions of cheers or smirks and Tenko was ready to throw the towel.

"Maa, Tenko-chan, our cute students count on your support and sharp, little teeth. I did not train with you and let you create so many holes in my old shirt for nothing." Tenko narrowed her eyes in annoyance.

"You made me bite your arm to - and I recite - 'lower my inhibition threshold of attacking'. It is not my problem you sacrificed your clothes."

"We just have the enemy insult or belittle Naruto-kun. This sets her off," Sakura said with a cocky grin on her lips.

"Oh, you little witch. Just be glad about rule 8." Tenko shot back, but she couldn't fight the amused grin at the suggestion. She really did revert to biting for her blonde friend. By now, Tenko did not doubt that she'd do the same for their teammates too.

* * *

In a dark, hidden room somewhere in Konoha the walls were filled with safety and privacy seals. Kabuto straightened from his bow and grinned.

"As we predicted, Sasuke-kun is taking the Chunin Exam and the fox summon has joined them as well. The brats seem awfully protective of her and that damn blonde kid nearly blew my cover. Danzo-sama's information were correct, then. Nobody expect anything, and we are ready for the second exam."

A sly smile split thin lips and a long tongue licked over the lower one.

"You did well, Kabuto. Once Sasuke-kun has my mark and the seal is in place, I will just have to wait for him to come to me."

"What should we do with the summon? You never told us what to do with her."

"Oh, don't worry. I take care if this matter myself."


	21. Chapter 21

Hello my dear readers. :)

I am sorry, it took me this long to upload another chapter - and such a short one too -, but at the moment I have less time than I was hoping for.

A new, short chapter is better than none at all in my opinion and the following ones will be longer again. :)

* * *

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were in the bathroom, brushing their teeth while simultaneously bickering about everything and nothing. They planned to go to bed early and enjoy a calm morning before the second exam. As calm as a morning can be with the trio involved.

Tenko watched Kakashi clean the table from the take-out containers and let her thoughts run free, when the man suddenly sat on the couch next to the fox, giving her an expecting look.

"Tenko, you know that I expect you to keep an eye on the kids, right?" Kakashi's voice was serious and she had to think about his rhetorical question for a moment. As if this had to be asked in the first place.

"I do, and I would even without your input, they are my ducklings, just- don't expect me to fight their battles. I absolutely cannot do that. You know it." Kakashi's frown was visible even through the mask and his tone became harder.

"Let me rephrase my _question_. I expect you to protect our little Genin when they need you. Let them down or get hurt when you could have prevented it and don't dare to step into my line of vision again."

Tenko had to swallow hard at the silent promise in Kakashi's eyes.

She had long accepted to never be the fighting type and somewhere the fox secretly hoped to just be a side character while others did the ninja business. Tenko still asked herself why everyone else seemed to have the opinion the summon had to be exposed to fighting and violence.  
Also, Kakashi wouldn't allow this if it resulted in harm to the children.

The fox did not want the children to get hurt. The world was brutal and Tenko knew that one efficient strategy for survival was fighting, but this also caused death. Hell, the children basically idolized paid murder as a profession, but at the end of the day they were still kids.  
Kids, the fox had learned many things about in the past few months and Tenko really wanted to know them safe somewhere else. A cushioned safe-space preferably.

Tenko had easily taken Naruto into her heart from the beginning and Sakura and Sasuke were just about to get their reserved places in there too. Well, the place was already there, the summon just had to finally admit to herself that she was a sucker for the kids, even when they were Sakura and Sasuke.

In short, Tenko did not want them to ever get hurt, but everything in herself spoke against fighting. So, what could she do? What would she do?  
Questions, the fox did not know how to answer yet. Talking about it was easy, but she did not know if the loudmouthed bravery would still be with her in battle.

Tenko opened her mouth and was about to give Kakashi some sort of a reply, when the kids came back into the living room, still bickering in a triad. Kakashi and Tenko shared a quick look before plastering smiles to their faces and calming the Genin down to sleep.

.

Anko led the crowd to a place Tenko was not keen on visiting so soon again. The Forest of Death. What made it worse was Anko's presence.

Those two gave Tenko a short flashback to the raining-bugs-and-snakes-incident and the fox tried to always have one of the children between them. She made it look like pure coincidence, because Tenko still wanted to keep up the bluff about being a genuine summon with skills.  
Hopefully, the powers of imagination would keep the other teams away from Team 7.

A strange, strangled scream echoed from within the forest.

"Hey, Sakura, you sure you packed the medical kits, right?" Tenko said in a low voice and the girl took a second to think.

"Yes, I have made Naruto-kun recheck his storage scroll twice and Sasuke-kun has a small extra kit should one of us lose ours with the scroll. Oh, and I added a standard antidote, since I had not enough time to buy better ones before the exam. They work against most spider bites and against food poisoning."

"You are a gift from the gods, sweety." Sakura gave a bright smile at the nice praise and the kids felt antsy to start the second exam with anticipation.

A few metres away Gai's team waited for Anko to finally start talking while Lee was busy sending Sakura glances like a lovestruck puppy- or fool, but he kept his distance to not confess again as he promised he would.  
Tenko gave an approving nod for keeping the Gai-ness and his springtime of youth in check, which had to be very difficult for the teen. If some muttering about practicing his confession from Lee could be heard from time to time, the summon decided to ignore it in good will.

"Now, before we start, I want you all to sign this waiver here." Anko bellowed to the crowd and got their undivided attention.

"A waiver for what?" came the eloquent question from some random Genin.  
Tenko was curious, too.  
What did they need it for? Shinobi were not known for their fondness in paperwork after all.

"Just, in case any or all of you die, I am not held responsible. Not that I personally care, you try to become Chunin after all, but it would be extra work and I hate the bureaucracy for funerals. And with this piece of paper Konoha won't have another war coming just for any of your empty heads."

Tenko shot the woman a horrified look. Was she serious? The fox saw the look on her face and, yes, she was.

The waivers were passed out to all the Genin and Sakura was kind enough to kneel down so that the summon was able to read it too.

"_In case of any type of injury, case of blood loss, crippling or infection and result in any type of disability, death or the end of my shinobi career, Konoha and their citizens will not be held responsibility.  
In case of death by mutilation or desecration of my corpse before my remains are found, the responsibility will also be all mine.  
In case of theft while taking the exam, Konoha does not have to compensate my financial losses. _

_Signed:_ Date: __"

A tense mumbling could be heard from the remaining Genin teams, when Naruto let out a loud snort while he failed to contain his amusement.  
Everyone was giving him strange looks.

"Hah, as if I had to steal from other Genin." His eyes wandered to the fenced forest. "At least the trees aren't blue and red."  
Sakura flinched at the reminder, Sasuke glared - to Tenko's surprise - at the forest and everyone else was just weirded out.

"You think this is no challenge, boy?" The amused voice of Anko reminded the fox of her presence and Tenko pretended to take a look around to get some distance to the crazy woman.

"Not really, no. Not more than a rabid flock of birds or jumping pigs." The blonde boy shrugged his shoulders while carrying a silly grin on his face. He played his old role again, that of the loud-mouthed, overly confident troublemaker and it worked wonderfully.  
Naruto had figured if Tenko wanted to play pretend to get underestimated, he'd just let people see in him what they always saw, the least of a threat. His old façade.

"A brave ninja, huh?" Anko's smile was not of the pleasant type and she suddenly threw a kunai at the blonde Uzumaki.

Team 7 all saw the twitch in her body before the attack happened, but a low grunt from Sasuke was all they needed to hear to not move out of reflexes. The Genin would have jumped in to help Naruto, while Tenko would love to get away from any flying projectile.

If the stupid dimension had taught them one thing it was to react fast enough to not get hit by crazy animals or Sakura's fists, latter was more frequent and possibly lethal.

The blade nicked Naruto's cheek and his eyes widened. To the people around them it looked like shock, but Sakura was about the facepalm herself, because Naruto was mesmerised by the accuracy of Anko's throw. The woman had wanted to just brush him with the blade.

"He needs lessons in self-preservation," was what the kids heard Tenko whisper.  
The fox had nearly screamed at the woman, but then remembered that the kids hadn't signed the waiver yet. And Anko wouldn't have seriously hurt Naruto anyway… right? He was the Kyuubi's container and a walking S-rank secret after all.

What did surprise Team 7 though was Anko's body flicker behind the blonde and her talk about him dying first with his attitude. His teammates silently applauded the way Naruto's façade fooled everyone around them.

Well, everyone but Shikamaru, who only gave them calculating looks. Sakura had commented on Naruto's true self before the written test and the Nara heir was no one to dismiss a strange comment like that.

Anko was being a creep when she tried to touch the blonde's bloody cheek, but her sense of danger suddenly got her to move and draw another kunai.

A long tongue reached out to offer her first kunai to the Jonin. It was one of the participants.  
How had that brat managed to sneak up to Anko without her noticing it?

A tight grin plastered to her face, she accepted her weapon back with a thank you, but would die before letting her guard down in front of this person. Why did the other female make Anko's body scream at her in alert?

Tenko was ready to snap at Anko for daring to hurt Naruto even though she was scared of the insane woman, when the creepy Genin with the long tongue appeared behind the Konoha nin's.

What made the fox back a step away was not the disgustingly long tongue or the fast movements, but both combined with the stench of snakes assaulting her senses. Her brain seemed to try and remind Tenko of something, but once again, she had no idea of what. She had no memories from before her time in Konoha making this attempt pointless.

Where Anko's strange snake in the sleeve trick only made the smell hover around her like a mosquito, this chick's intensity gave Tenko the feeling she could taste it in her mouth.

The summon dared to take a short breath in and suddenly noticed that the scent of snakes did not intermingle with the natural person's odour, but it was a fixed part of it.

She quickly looked at Kiba, but the boy showed no sign to notice the stench. Did he really not smell this?  
Or had it something to do with summons? Anko used snake summons after all which you don't usually smell until they are present, but Tenko could still sense them on Anko.

And on the creeper Konatu, or whatever snake-guy's name was, also had a clear underlying trace of the stench.

This chick had to bath in snake summons daily to have such a disgustingly strong scent as part of her own.  
Tenko did not like this idea at all.

The commotion died down when the creeper went back to her Genin team and everyone signed their waiver.  
Anko then continued to explain the second exam and the function of the heaven and earth scrolls.

Every team had to pass off their team's waivers for a scroll in a secluded area and while Team 7 waited for their turn, Tenko looked around and into the easily readable faces of the other teams already in possession of their scroll.

Really, didn't they know how to at least cover up their nervousness? Even for Genin most of them were obvious, creepy assassins or not, they were still Genin.  
'_Oh, hey. That's it_!'

"Psht, kids," she quietly hissed so that only her team could hear her. "I have an idea how to find the scroll we will need to pass."

Eager eyes locked onto her and Sakura had to muffle her voice before she could shout in disbelief.

"Really? _How_?" The fox gave her a lopsided grin.

"Easy. We'll use Naruto's façade and fool those idiots again. Most of these kids can't control their expressions enough to hide their nervousness. What if we play with that and make them tell us which scroll they have?" Sasuke glared at the summon impatiently, because she didn't explain fast enough for him.

"Whatever scroll we'll get Naruto has to burst out that we are in possession of the other one. If we get an earth scroll, he'll have to talk loud enough for everyone to hear we have a heaven scroll and vice versa.  
Those with the scroll we truly need will show some signs of relief to know not to suspect an attack from us. Even if they see through our act, the body cannot supress micro expressions."

"Tenko, that… you actually have a good idea." Sakura was impressed and the fox shot her a short glare.

"What does _that_ mean, pinky?"

"Well, most of the time everything you say and do turns out disastrous and gives us more problems than solves them. I guess I am surprised you have such a smart idea."

"Wow, thanks…"

"She is right about that," Sasuke grunted and gave their fourth member a shit-eating grin.  
Naruto only seemed thrilled to do this, and they did.

"Work smart, not hard, right, Tenko?" Sakura offered an amused smile.

They passed off their waivers and got their scroll, which Sasuke quickly stored in his pouch. They would decide who had to carry it later when they were alone.

"Ah! Look, Sakura-chan, we just have to get a heaven scroll and the second exam is done!" the blonde screamed with vigour while his team played along to be angry with him. Sakura even gave him a hit to the head, albeit a very soft one.

Sasuke and Tenko busied themselves looking at the other teams' faces as subtle as possible and as predicted, some Genin let out relieved sighs or gave grins like they won the lottery. Okay, the first reaction meant, they had earth scrolls. One of them would become their target.

Many Genin laughed at the stupidity of the blonde Konoha nin, but Team 7 went over to the gate they had to enter from and quickly summarised with teams to target.  
Yes, this would be easier than they thought.

"Tenko, you have to keep watching out for other teams." Sakura reminded the fox of the plan they had discussed with Kakashi.  
Right, Tenko had her training in tracking to alert her team of incoming opponents and traps as good as possible.

The summon gave a serious nod.  
"I will. If this gives us the chance to avoid conflict and fighting, you can bet on me."

"This is not what I want to hear. It's a bad condition," Sasuke said and nudged the summon with his foot.

"Oh, like you would expect me to jump into danger headfirst," she shot back, but there was no real bite in her voice.

"Anyone who knows you longer than a minute knows to give up on that," Sakura commented with a deadpanned expression and their teammates nodded in agreement.

Team 7 all knew how scared the fox was of fighting and they would have to make sure their fourth, cowardly member would not find herself opposite a weapon wielder, since the only thing the fox had profound practice at was dodging fists and legs.  
The less fights the fox had to participate in, the better for her and the Genin who would have to help her out.

Naruto created shadow clones as soon as the exam started, henged them into Team7's members and send them into different directions.

.

"Ugh, how can this damn forest be as annoying as the other one?" Sakura cried out in frustration and kicked a gigantic caterpillar off the tree they decided to take a short break on.

"You just say that because of the bugs." Tenko sidestepped a creepy spider which quickly got disposed off by Naruto.

"Of course, I do! How can so many nasty, ugly, disgusting creatures live in one god damn training ground in Konoha?! Hokage-sama has to send exterminators, hordes of them, and kill those- those… _things_."

"Not to destroy your hopes, but I think they are part of the reason this is called the Forest of Death." Naruto noted and quickly dodged a fist.

"Then they should call it the Forest of Bugs. Oh, I bet Shino-kun has a blast being here," the pink-haired pre-teen grumbled and glared at some flying bugs near them.

"Quiet! Someone is coming near," Tenko hissed when her ears picked up noises from behind them. Quickly, the team hid in the branches and another Genin team landed on their previous spot.

"Man, I swear I heard someone scream!" One of the guys said and Sakura gained three annoyed and/or reproachful looks.

"What? I was right." She whispered and Tenko was about to shot something back, when Sasuke suddenly nudged her side and pointed at their foreign nins.

"They have an earth scroll, right?" He asked quietly but it was more of the rhetorical type of question. Both of them had checked out the teams reactions after Naruto played his part and the girl from their team had let out a loud breath of relief.  
The fox just nodded.

Naruto gesticulated the question if they should jump down on them and knock them out with a surprise attack.

Sasuke held up his hand and with a short glance to Tenko he circled his index finger a few times. She understood, thanks to Kakashi's conviction they all had to be able to understand each other non-verbally and had them learn a few signs and made some up themselves.

Enhancing her senses with chakra, the summon checked their surroundings three-sixty around them, but she could not see, smell or hear anyone in closer proximity or within ring range.  
The Genin all got ready and when the team on the branches under them were about to go on, Team 7 jumped down without making a sound and knocked their targets out.

Well, just before Sakura's feet made contact with the other girl's face, she'd turned around to say something so the pink-haired girl landed next to her.  
Shocked eyes looked at Naruto and Sasuke, sitting on the unconscious teammates, before she turned towards Sakura and tried to jump out of danger, but the fearsome sucker-punch knocked her lights out immediately and Naruto had to catch the body, before she could fall off the tree from the force.

"Geez, Sakura! You are not supposed to kill her, waiver or not!" He pulled the girl up and the Uchiha boy helped out resting her next to her teammates.

"Hah? I didn't even use chakra. How should I know she just flies off?" Sakura said defensively.

"Yes, yes, this was a mistake, but nothing bad happened. Now get the scroll and we can get to the tower," Tenko nervously checked their surroundings again. No way was she keen on meeting other people right now.

.

They got lost.  
On their way to the tower, Team 7 got lost and now they had to go up the trees to orientate themselves with the position of the sun.

"This is still your fault," Sakura bickered with Naruto for the past twenty minutes. "If you hadn't ran off for a pee break, those assholes wouldn't have caught you or distracted us from our path!"

"I already told you I was sorry, but it was a surprise attack! And you would have fallen into their trap if it wasn't for Tenko and Sasuke-teme!"

"Well, I didn't and we had to find you, just because you couldn't open a knot."

"I had my hands tied up behind my back! How am I supposed to undo a knot on my chest?"

"You coul-"

"How much longer are you going to talk about this, Sakura? Can't we just be grateful nobody got hurt and we are not followed by them?" Tenko groaned in annoyance and rolled her eyes.

They walked up the giant tree, when suddenly a stench crawled into the fox's nose and her eyes darted around.

"Jump," she suddenly cried and tackled Sasuke who was walking next to her, to the side. Naruto quickly did the same with Sakura and not a second later the part of the tree they just stood on was buried by a snake, or more precisely, its fangs.

The animal- no, summon was huge, towering over them with its body wrapped around the tree trunk.

"Snake!" The high-pitched scream from the fox was no help. Inside of Tenko something contracted and non-existent memories tried to assault her mind again.

Sasuke found a shivering bundle of fur in his arms and was about to tell the fox to get her grip on herself, when a mockering chuckling echoed through the trees.


	22. Chapter 22

Sakura felt a cold shiver of fear run down her back after hearing the chuckling noise and judging by Sasuke's and Naruto's expressions they felt just as uncomfortable and in danger as the girl did.  
Swallowing heavily, the trio quickly went into a defensive formation while brushing their shoulders together for comfort.

"My, aren't you wary?" A complacent voice echoed, and a figure suddenly landed on a thick branch of the tree across from the Genin team.

"H-hey, that's the creepy tongue lady," Naruto stumbled over his words and pointed at the foreign ninja, who in turn smiled falsely, giving the pre-teens goosebumps.

"Now, that is not polite, is it?" The ninja let out another chuckle and Sakura took a step back, when killing intent rolled off of the creep in strong waves.  
The brutal pressure froze Team 7 on the spot and while Naruto and Sakura grabbed on to Sasuke and the fox, still in his arms, they all felt like suffocating.

.

Tenko hadn't seen who the person was, but her senses of smell and hearing were enough to answer the question. When the killing intent hit her, all sorts of bloody imagery of her own death flooded Tenko's brain.

Her body forgot how to breath, how to move, what to do all together. Panic numbed her senses and the fox didn't feel the hands holding on to her anymore or the fact that Sasuke still hadn't dropped her yet.

A strange pull made her twitch and from one moment to the next Tenko felt the killing intent vanish all together with the arms around her.  
Daring to open her eyes in confusion, she looked around herself to see the shabby shed Kitsu sat in, seemingly just as irritated and dumbfounded as the body-thief herself was.

And Tenko was back in her human form, just like last time she had 'visited' the man.

"**Why do **_**you**_** show up when I touch the flames**," Kitsu asked in disgust while he waved at the candles. "**And why didn't you little shit tell me Kyuubi-sama's chakra keeps me locked in here?!"** the huge man growled angrily.

"What?" Tenko did not know what to say, still too caught up in the earlier situation and overwhelmed by Kitsu's question.  
The man pointed at the chakra-lit candles forming the circle around him once again and patience was nothing the man seemed to value.

"**This barrier is keeping me locked up and isolated from everything, dipshit. And the flames aren't just any chakra. It's Kyuubi-sama's! I haven't been able to touch it or sense Him before. Now tell me why the great master would allow such a low existence as yourself to take over the body of one of His subordinates and lock me up in here!**"

"I-I, holy shit. What?" Tenko's knees buckled and she had to sit down, staring at the candles in front of her.

'_The small flames are the fox demon's chakra, so… they caused Kitsu to become a prisoner in his body, no- in my mind. But- what is the man saying? He implies that- that…_'  
Sure, Tenko had noticed the chakra before, but what Kitsu was saying was just too farfetched.

"**Are you retarded now as well as stupid?"**

Tenko looked up at the sitting man with a helpless expression, still caught off guard by his from the events in the second exam.

"**You didn't know."  
**The gruffy voice stated and pulled Tenko out of her thoughts. Kitsu did not look any friendlier at her, but the despise and anger were less than normal if that was possible.

"I didn't know," she couldn't find it in herself to say much more.

"**How?" **Kitsu grabbed a flask of sake and took a large gulp of the beverage.

"What _how_?"

"**How comes Kyuubi-sama gave my body to a useless piece of shit?"**

"How should I know? He never mentioned anything. I just had it after I absorbed his chakra."  
Kitsu spat out the sake in his mouth and had to knock against his own chest while coughing violently.

"**The one providing you with chakra is **_**Kyuubi-sama**_**?!"**

"Dude, you okay?" Tenko raised an eyebrow in doubt when Kitsu nearly fell over. "Well- yeah. But, it was on accident, really. And he is not as willing as you might think he is. You can call it a necessity by our circumstances."

Kitsu gave her a pointed look and Tenko told the man the short version of her chakra-less state, how she ended up with Naruto and Kyuubi's chakra, her deal with the fox demon, and how it seemed that both Kitsu and Kyuubi had no idea about each other's presence in the whole matter.

"**Well, shit**." Kitsu had continued drinking sake while listening and occasionally rubbed his face in disbelief. "**No wonder I couldn't take my body over again. I am no match for Kyuubi-sama**." The second part was mumbled more to himself, but Tenko was close enough to hear him.

She felt pity for him, seeing the defeat in his face.  
His boss or whatever Kyuubi was for a normal fox summon had taken away Kitsu's body and imprisoned him in Tenko's mind. And Kyuubi seemed to be sacrosanct to the man sitting in front of her with his head resting on his hands, and his hair closing Tenko off like a dark curtain.

Tenko guessed, with the knowledge _who_ had caused this, Kitsu mightn't had dared to fight against his restraints and the barrier as much as he had until now.

Her pity was not be enough to give him back his body though. Nope.

The young woman took a moment to look at the candles again and she could actually feel heat from the small flames being near enough. This fact hit her like a brick to the face.  
The whole time she was back in her mind, Tenko stood _inside_ the shed for the first time. A place she was too afraid to enter by her own and now she was _in_ the room.

Looking around herself, the woman noticed… nothing. Nothing had happened yet, nothing seemed to happen and Tenko asked herself why she hadn't dared to enter the old shed.

"**You really were able to hear master's voice."** Kitsu said as if he had to convince himself this was real and he frowned at the human female in front of him and broke her new train of thoughts. "**Why can **_**you**_** talk with Him when I influence your appearance**?"

"Are you asking why _I_ can talk to him or why only in a human form?" Tenko asked back at the rudely voiced question, slightly pissed at the complete lack of respect in Kitsu's voice. Sure, she did not help the situation or gave him a reason to like her, but still.  
Tenko's patience with the bad mood Kitsu was in was wearing thin. She had enough troubles and did not feel too keen on allowing the man to keep talking this rudely.

"**Both. I cannot understand why Kyuubi-sama would ever converse with you, a simple lowlife. And why in a **_**human**_** form of all things?"**

"Thanks, asshole. He made a deal with me, I just told you. You suddenly became senile or what? I am supposed to keep Naruto safe from danger and bodily harm. My sweet idiot runs into it so often, I guess Kyuubi felt threatened enough to make the deal with me to have an eye on him.

"He _had_ to talk. But why I can hear him as a human, no idea. And stop talking to me like I am a bug under your foot, it's pissing me off!"

Kitsu hummed thoughtfully and emptied another flask, completely ignoring her last complain.

Meanwhile, Tenko gave him another suspicious look. How was he not drunk yet? That had to be the- what?- fifth one since they started talking.

"**Maybe my own chakra enabled a link to him. When I altered your form, I allowed my body some of its original chakra and it might have intermingled with His."**

"A fox-to-fox connection? Like the headsets ninja teams use for communication?"

"**Don't talk dumb stuff or I rip out your tongue, dipshit!"**

"Thanks, you are a real gentleman… wait a minute! I was not the one to imprison you. Your hate towards me for taking over your body is unreasonable! So why do you keep insulting me? Or talking to me at all."

"**Don't misunderstand me. I still hate you for not giving back my body and would kick your ribs through your lungs if I found you bleeding to death on the ground.  
I just talk to you because I like to understand things. It lies in a fox's nature to want information for an advantage, to understand what you come across and to never be on the short end. Not that I can say **_**that**_** right now.**"

Kitsu's face showed his anger again and the man threw the newest flask with sake against the wooden wall, where it shattered and fell to the ground, drenching the floor in sake.

'_Geez, he has more intense mood swings than Sakura.'_

"If it makes you feel better, I had no idea either and if there is a possibility for both of us to come out of this alive and separate, I will do my best to accomplish that."

"**It does not help me right now, fucking thief. Give me my body back and I just might hate you a little less**." The grump in Kitsu was back.

"Yeah, sure," Tenko said, not believing one word Kitsu said. "No can do, I like to live. Your hate is less important to me than giving this body up," she hissed back and then her expression lightened up while a mischievous grin spread on her face.

"I made a deal with Kyuubi to protect Naruto and thereby keep the fox's container safe." Inside, she frowned at her own words, not liking to reduce Naruto to the Jinchuuriki, but the man in front of Tenko did not seem to care for linguistic details with his focus on his stupid master.

"To keep everyone, your great boss included, alive I have to live, too. So, by asking me to kill myself to get your body back, Kyuubi would have a greater risk for harm because I cannot keep check on Naruto. And without any jutsu one is bound to die out there."

Kitsu glared down at sitting red-head for making implications.  
"**You little witch**."

Tenko loudly breathed out through her nose in amusement and shrugged her shoulders.  
"_You_ always interrupted me when I was practicing with the kids and- Shit fucking damn it!"

With wide eyes the woman jumped up and ran outside, but quickly came back inside.  
"You have to get me back outside! No, wait, _help us_!"

Kitsu raised an eyebrow and looked at Tenko like she was insane or growing a second head.  
**"Why would **_**I**_** help **_**you**_**?"**

"There is that creepy snake-lady and I think she really means business. She was pressuring us with killing intent like crazy!"

"**You seriously expect me to fight against some ninja?"**

Tenko nodded violently.  
"I don't know what her deal is, but she is dangerous!" Burying her fists in her hair, Tenko started pacing forth and back.  
"My mind tries to remind me of something, maybe a warning, but I lost my memories so it is pointless. No, this _discussion_ is pointless! Listen, mister. The kids are in danger! The snake-creeper can use _killing intent_! Kakashi said Genin aren't supposed to have that ability. I think she will seriously harm the kids."

Kitsu did not look convinced, which made Tenko growl in desperation. She needed his help, whether she liked it or not. Tenko frantically looked around the room, trying to work on a good reason for the man to help out, when the chakra flames suddenly flickered. Yes, _god_, was it obvious!

"Remember what I just told you? If that bitch hurts Naruto, Kyuubi might get hurt too. You can stay stubborn or help me protect your demon boss."

Tenko did not want to fight and could not fight even if she wanted to. She could not go against the snake lady. Tenko wasn't able to perform the simplest jutsu and she doubted the enemy ninja would be intimidated by her tree-walking-skills.

If Tenko could just make Kitsu do fox fire, it might startle the creeper enough and give them a few seconds to run away. Just enough for them to get to safety. Yes, that was a plan. Maybe not the best, but it was a plan.

'_I am in a fight with a stubborn fox in my mind as my only chance to get away. God help me and I start believing in you… maybe,'_ Tenko tried to not think about the circumstances too much, but they were everything in her repertoire.

Kitsu tried to push his chakra into his own body and sense what went on outside of Tenko's mind. Since the cursed colour dimension, the body thief absorbed larger amounts of Kyuubi-sama's chakra, the barrier was stronger as well, and Kitsu had to try harder and harder to connect to his body's senses.  
Where Kitsu was able to sense and see everything without trouble just a few weeks ago, he now had to fight against his restraints with everything he got while the barrier numbed him.

A simple chakra fluctuation - maybe caused by the killing intent the pathetic being in front of him (Tenko) talked about - allowed Kitsu to really feel the chakra barrier surrounding him for the first time and he had access to his old senses again.

The killing intent clashing down on him more than just surprised the man.  
It was bad, no, worse than a hairless ape in a Chunin exam should be able to create. The killing intent was downright devious.

The area Team 7 was in reeked rotten like snakes and the fear from the children assaulted Kitsu's senses too, making Kitsu recoil from them.

Damn him. His master's container, and his peers, was still frozen in place, not showing any sign of recovery or movement. How could this stupid human end up against such a powerful opponent and not even move. This endangered his master!  
Kitsu growled loudly.

"**To make one thing clear. I help you little pest only for Kyuubi-sama's safety**," he spat out and with another pulse of chakra Kitsu forced Tenko back into consciousness in his body.

"**I won't be able to keep the link up for long, so listen, lowlife. None of you has a chance against that freak, but I might be able to help you blast her off the tree with fox fire. Give me a moment to focus the chakra and prepare the attack, it will take some time. And don't you dare fight me or it takes us too long!"**

Then Kitsu went silent in Tenko's head, but somehow his chakra had decreased the influence of the killing intent on her body and Tenko was able to move, albeit with limbs heavy from the terrifying fear.

"Kukukukuku," the creepy Genin let out the strange laugh again. "Seems like some rats came across a snake. You need this to pass the exam, right?"  
She held up an earth scroll, giving Team 7 a taunting look before swallowing the damn think with her long tongue wrapped around the item. Tenko was sure she got sick at the disgusting scene.  
"You did not really expect anyone to fall for your little trick before the exam, did you?"

The fox tried to assess the situation with subtle movements.  
She couldn't have been in her mind space for long, since nobody had moved – or couldn't move. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were still frozen in place, trembling in fear with wide eyes, seeing unreal things under the influence of the killing intent.

The creepy girl took a step forward and the giant snake rose behind her like on a silent command. Fangs as huge as the enemy nin's torso were showcased with poison dripping down.

Tenko felt fatigue hit her, but something else pulled her back, kept her awake.  
Kitsu's chakra.

Panic-filled eyes looked up at the kids, but they could not react.  
'_Oh god, we will die! Move! Please, move, any of you_!' Tenko begged silently and finally noticed the hands buried in her fur, pulling painfully on her body.  
White knuckles and trembling hands. Her ducklings were just as terrified as Tenko was, maybe even more, because, at least, Tenko was able to move her body at will.

A movement in the corner of her eye made Tenko's concentration snap back at the creepy fucker and the enemy ninja.  
The wide, insane grin on the girl's face was enough for the summon to understand what would happen. Tenko might not be the sharpest kunai in the pouch or best at ninja tactics, but she could recognise an attack when she saw one.

"Kitsu, I need fox fire now. She's going to attack!" Her voice was nothing more than a whisper, but in Tenko's ears it sounded like a scream.

"**Give me a second, I'm nearly done**," was the only answer she got.

Suddenly Tenko felt the Kyuubi's chakra in her body come alive, violent and wild. It concentrated in her lungs like destructive tornados of fire. The chakra seemed to be needed in her lungs, not her mouth, as Tenko would have guessed.

'_Faster! The snake is going to move_!' Tenko could not talk in her panic and the painful burning in her lungs did not help either.  
Did Kitsu really expect her to blast out chakra from all the way back in her lungs? It hurt her, it burned. Would the attack be able to burn her alive? Dear god, was Kitsu still trying to kill her?

"**Stop whatever you are doing, dipshit! You are blocking me from attacking**," an enraged voice yelled in Tenko's head, but she couldn't even shake her head in denial.

Tenko did not want that. She wanted the pain to stop. Her lungs were hurting so badly, even the beat of her heart felt like punches from the inside. This was exactly the reason she despised fighting and violence. It always turned back on you, take a toll from the attacker, not just the victim – not helping anybody.

'_Make it stop! Cancel the attack! It hurts! I don't want that! It hurts so badly_!' Tenko cried out in her thoughts. Whatever fox fire was, it surely would rip her apart, burn her to ashes and erase her and Kitsu's existence all together.

"**Stop being such a drama queen and let me kill that bitch before she harms Kyuubi-sama!"**

Tenko wanted to get away from their attacker, she really did, but the fear of violence, pain and death paralysed her.

Then the giant snake summon moved. It shot through the air like a spear, deadly, precise and willing to kill the children.

Tenko saw the beast move and for a split-second everything moved very slowly, nearly standing still.

The fox could see the bastard-bitch grin in anticipation and the bloodlust she radiated did not make it less scary. The snake was half-way across the space between the trees, still in the air. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were trembling while their eyes cried out all their emotions and their attempts to make their bodies move. Terrified eyes watched helplessly what was about to happen.

And then Tenko saw the snake's eyes turn and focus on Sakura. Instead of the whole quartet, the summon had decided on singling out its first target as if this was a sick game for the summon.  
Its mouth opened wider, fangs flashing in the light and slitted eyes bored themselves into the pink-haired girl who desperately clung to her friends and tears filled her eyes.

The fox was not ready to give up her life yet, possible never will. She was afraid of pain, of violence, of fighting. Tenko did not want anything to do with it.  
But look at her now. To make Naruto Hokage, to live comfortably under his protection, Tenko was in the Forest of Death and would watch a giant snake kill a young girl any second now.

For her own survival, the fox stupidly went along with a team of young ninja and their sensei, expecting them to protect her.  
And now- …now nobody was there to protect Sakura's life.

Tenko could not protect the girl. She was too weak. She couldn't even protect herself.

' "_I expect you to protect our little Genin when they need you. Let them down or get hurt when you could have helped and don't dare to step into my line of vision again." _'  
Kakashi was going to rip her a new one.

'_Am I just accepting Sakura's death?_' The thought was worse than a kick to the gut and Tenko felt the cold rush of guilt and disbelief run through her veins.

Sakura was part of her life now, a friend to Naruto and herself. Just a little girl.  
The fox was certain she would not be able to ever forget this, to meet anyone's eyes, to sleep trough any night after this, to forgive herself.

'_But I am scared. It hurts and I never wanted this to happen. I don't want any of this_.'

"**You fucking bitch are seriously watching the kid die? And they call me a monster,"** Kitsu spat out disgusted and he felt the control over the attack slip from his hands.

The snake was dangerously close, when Tenko's ears picked up a small sound, so pathetic and full of fear, she was not sure it was remotely human.  
But it was. The terrified sound was a whimper escaping Sakura's lips with tears running down her cheeks.

All of Tenko's fear of death was suddenly usurped by the fear for Sakura dying and a strong sense of protectiveness washed over the summon.  
"No!" the fox growled in a false sense of stupid bravery, her voice sounding more like an animal than ever before, and without thinking the fox let out a loud scream while pressing out all of the hot, painful chakra.

Instead of the attack Kitsu expected, he was able to see a huge wall of blue and orange flames build up in front of Team 7, all seen through his body's eyes.  
The huge man let out a humourless snort. The abomination of a lowlife really turned the attack into a defensive wall!?

The snake summon smashed against the fire and with a howl neither human nor animalistic it burned its own head off, the lifeless body falling to the ground.

Caught off guard, the foreign ninja took a small step back. The fox was not supposed to do that. All the information spoke about a useless summon not able to even touch chakra properly!

The killing intent disappeared, and the children all looked at the wall of fire in wonder, but Sasuke quickly used the distraction to their advantage and when the flames died down, the branch they had stood on was empty.

.

"Holy shit, Tenko! How did you do that?" Naruto asked his friend while marvelling at the thought of the flaming wall.

"I don't know, Naruto. And I don't care. We have to keep moving!" The fox jumped to the next tree and urged the pre-teens to run even faster.  
For a couple of minutes only their heavy breathing, the smell of stress and fear, and hectic heartbeats reached Tenko's senses.  
Sakura was quietly sobbing while the boys each held on to one of her hands and pulled her with them.

'_Maybe we lost her_,' Tenko silently hoped.  
A light blast of wind was all the warning she got, when the fox cried out.

"GET UP!"  
Immediately the pre-teens pushed themselves off the branch and landed a couple of metres above their path with their weapons drawn.  
They watched the creepy snake lady morph out of a tree and before she could do anything, kunai, shuriken and razor-sharp ninja wire flew towards her to rip apart the body.  
With highly skilled movements their opponent avoided every weapon and projectile flying to slice her up. She then rested her chin on her hand and tapped her index finger against it.

"My, aren't you entertaining? Killing my poor summon with fox fire. And forming it into a wall. Very interesting, really. I will have to study your chakra system so prepare to give me your body." The long-haired creep said while licking her lips and Sakura's expression turned scandalised.

"That sound too close to sodomy."

"What?" Naruto gave his teammate a confused look.

"To have sex with animals."

"You sick fuck," he cried out in disgust and rage, throwing another set of shuriken. "Don't worry, Tenko. We won't let that happen to you!"

Tenko was not sure if humour or shock over Naruto's language were acceptable in this situation, but it certainly helped her not to panic over the near-death experience from a few minutes ago.

"You are disgusting;" Naruto spat again and quickly pulled his friend into his arms and Sasuke grunted out in agreement while getting into an offensive stance.  
The boy wouldn't admit it, but he was creeped out by the strange tongue play by the Genin.

Tenko meanwhile felt cold shivers run down her body and when she looked over to the snake Genin, a face flashed before her eyes. It happened way too fast for the fox to clearly see it, but the face was definitely male and the eyes-  
Dear god, the eyes. They were yellow and slitted, just like a snake.

"Don't assume stupid things, brats." The snake lady hissed and raised her hands to perform a justu, but the Uchiha boy was faster.  
He had activated his sharingan right after their enemy morphed out of the tree and now threw a giant fire ball at her before the freak had the chance to finish her jutsu.

Hot flames engulfed the body and part of the tree as well.  
Sasuke had accidentally put more chakra into his attack than planned, but since this was a stressful situation they were in and their enemy could not dodge the huge fire in time, the boy didn't mind his slight mistake.

"This should kill her, right?" Sakura surprised her teammates with the hard tone and the eagerness in her voice.

"It should," Sasuke grunted self-satisfied, but the smirk fell off his face, when the flames extinguished, and a badly burned body still stood in place. Normally, the body's muscles should have burned through, and a limp heal should lie on the branch.

Team 7 gave one another suspicious glances and they held a silent conversation. The blonde Uzumaki handed Tenko over to Sakura after they came to an agreement.

Naruto was about to create shadow clones and confirm her death with the help of some kunai, when the snake lady opened her mouth and another body crawled out like a snake shedding its skin.

Tenko felt bile rise in her throat and pressed herself harder against the chest in her back.

"T-Tenko, can you create another wall?" Sakura asked with a trembling voice while her eyes didn't leave their opponent.

"I am sorry, no. It took too much chakra." The fox did not have to explain to the kids that this was not the situation to start absorbing chakra from Naruto.

.

Orochimaru let the body fall down to the ground with a frown.  
Who would have expected the summon to actually show some skills? Or Sasuke-kun to be this skilled and use his sharingan against the Sannin?

"Now stop giving me trouble and hand over the fox. Sasuke-kun, I also have a special gift for you. One that will make your wish come true," Orochimaru said to the Genin and enjoyed the obvious nervousness and fear in the children's faces.

"Dear god, a paedophile having a kink for sodomy." Naruto spat out in shock and quickly created ten clones.

"Duckling, stay away from this creep!" The fox glared at the man and Orochimaru was about to correct Naruto's very false assumption, when something interesting happened.

Clear signs of recognition flashed over the summon's face, before confusion replaced it and she narrowed her eyes.  
"Who are you?" Tenko spat the question in hostility.

Interesting. Why would the fox recognise Orochimaru but not know his name? Had she seen him before? No, this was not possible, he always kept record about his experiments and future ones.  
For the past year the Sannin hadn't been near Konoha, too busy perfecting this plan, experimenting on people and plotting how to train Uchiha Sasuke best before taking over his body.

Getting the boy was no question for Orochimaru. The need for vengeance did the work for him and all he had to do was to 'hand over' his little present.

The assumption of being a paedophile or getting off by the practise of sodomy disturbed Oorochimaru, though.

.

Naruto took his chance when their opponent seemed to be distracted by Tenko's question and with his shadow clones he attacked the man.  
Wisely, the blonde refrained from shouting, and the first kunai actually nicked the creep's arm. Then the man moved with more speed than Naruto's eyes were able to keep up with, and five clones dispelled.

"Don't interrupt, brat."  
The man held up a hand and out of his sleeve a multitude of snaked shot towards Naruto.

Tenko let out a scream of disgust and fear for her blonde friend, but luckily four clones managed to block the attack with their bodies, while the last clone flung their original back to his team before dispersing into smoke.

Sasuke roughly sat the fox down on the branch they stood on and prepared for a new attack to get away again. He knew, whoever this man was, he was too powerful for them. Uchiha or not, even Sasuke had learned when to admit defeat.

"Sasuke-kun, I can give you the power you need to kill your dear brother," their opponent suddenly stated and the pre-teen wavered in his step.

How did he know about Sasuke's ambition? He didn't tell many people about this. But the snake-man also knew about Tenko and clearly was surprised when she created the wall of fire. And he was not surprised with Naruto's shadow clones either.

"He knows too much," Sakura quietly hissed to her team and they all could only agree.

"How do you think you accomplish _that_," Sasuke asked their opponent, who in turn smirked like the bastard he seemed to be.

"My name is Orochimaru, one of the three Sannin and I am a scientist."  
Suddenly the same picture on his face flooded Tenko's mind, but this time she did not notice the yellow eyes but felt something. Like a strange certainty, it washed over her paired with a strange sense of familiarity. What the fuck? Did her mind try to remind her of something again?

"You are a lunatic," Tenko spat out and froze when she noticed what she'd just done.  
The Sannin gave her another curious glance and the fox felt like she was being dissected in only one second.

"Oh? How are you so sure about that?"

"How do you know about Sasuke's brother," Naruto asked loudly, redirecting the man's focus onto him.

"It does not concern you, boy. Now, Sasuke-kun, prepare to get the present of a lifetime."

"**He really sounds like a paedophile."  
**Tenko nearly jumped out of her skin when she suddenly heard Kitsu's voice in her head.  
**"Care to explain why your mind already knows this fucker's face, lowlife?"**

"How should I know? For all I know, I'm seeing him for the first time! …Can you help us out?" Tenko whispered back and she watched the pre-teen fall back into a defensive formation.  
Yeah, no way would they let the Sannin come near one of their teammates.

"**No can do. Kyuubi-sama certainly knows his barriers, so all I can do is watch. You should absorb chakra by the way. If you want to live and **_**protect my master**_**, that is. Your stupid abomination of fox fire used more chakra than usual, dipshit."**

"If you are no help here, fuck off." Tenko growled lowly and the voice in her head disappeared.

"Children," Orochimaru said disparagingly and dodged a flying set of shuriken from Sakura before he used his snake-in-the-sleeve trick and Sasuke quickly pulled her out of the way.

.

Nothing could have prepared Team 7 for the sheer power and speed the Sannin possessed – Sasuke secretly feared their opponent did not go full out on them, he was one of _the_ Sannin after all. He summoned two giant snakes and used them to attack the pre-teens while getting closer to Sasuke.

The Genin did their best to avoid every attack, dodge and counter while Sasuke's sharingan allowed him to warn his teammates from the Orochimaru's movements.

Sakura nearly got perforated if not for a kick to the stomach from the Uchiha boy at the last second to push her away and Naruto and his clones did their best to help them out while fighting the snakes off. Many clones gave their lives.

The self-proclaimed scientist had a concerning gleam in his eyes like a predator had when hunting his prey.

Sasuke was just about to roast one of the summons when he finally found a gap in its attacking pattern, when the Sannin appeared near him and tried to grab at his arm.  
Luckily, Sakura had been nearby and with a swift movement she'd kicked off the branch and her chakra-enhanced punch landed in Orochimaru's face.

With a satisfying crunch his cheekbone gave in and the man flew back against the next tree trunk.  
But all euphoria ended, when one of the snakes suddenly got Sakura in its mouth just behind the fangs.

Naruto was throwing jutsu around like nobody's business and his opponent of the last five minutes, the second snake, got buried underground while twenty Narutos rammed their entire weapon arsenal into the summon until it moved no more.

The blonde turned to his friends to help them out when he saw his pink-haired teammate trapped in the snake's mouth.

Sasuke did his best to fend off Orochimaru once again and replaced himself with tree stumps over and over, quietly thanking Kakashi for the training, but he could not get nearer to Sakura to be of any help.  
He managed to avoid the sleeve-snakes with less distance than Sasuke would be comfortable with, when a strong burst of hot, wild chakra erupted the entire tree they were fighting on.

Turning his head, the Uchiha saw Naruto run towards the snake holding Sakura captive, his entire body was cloaked in orange-red chakra, and the look on the blonde's face… Sasuke felt a shiver of terror run down his back.

Red, slitted eyes were fixed on their target, clawed hands ripped bark off the branch and with an inhuman roar, Naruto's hand collided with the snake's mouth right when the summon tried to swallow the girl.

The lower jaw was ripped out of its socket, only scaled skin holding on to the body part.  
Sakura fell, but Naruto quickly shot down and caught his friend, jumping away from the summon.

Sasuke used the moment of stillness the Sannin seemed to be caught in, possibly by the inaccuracy of his information about Team 7, to get to his team.  
Sakura slumped down on the branch while Naruto was breathing loudly.

Next to them Tenko was still hiding, as she has been doing for the whole fight, and the surrounding chakra started to float towards her body, slowly being absorbed.

"Some help would be nice," Sasuke hissed through clenched teeth and glared at the fox. His shoulder was heavily bruised when one of the snakes had tackled him and their teammates did not look any better.

"I am nowhere near to use chakra. What do you want me to do? Jump down that man's throat and strangle him?"  
Tenko shot back, but where Sasuke sounded frustrated and angered, the fox was scared and her voice trembled.

"You are absorbing chakra rig- Oh god, Naruto!" Sakura pressed a hand over her mouth, and she flinched involuntarily.  
Naruto was sitting down, claws burying deep into the bark under him and him whole body shook.

"I- It hurts. It's so angry," he pressed out and the fangs broke the skin of his lip. Tenko looked at her friend with wide eyes. The Kyuubi was trying to take over the blonde's body.

'_Oh no. What do I do? I- Tenzo! Wait, he isn't here. What should I do? The chakra is consuming him!'_

Sakura, Sasuke and Tenko could do nothing but watch the boy in desperation.  
Hot chakra pulsed again and pushed Orochimaru further away, when the man tried to use the short commotion to get near Sasuke.

"**I hate to break the news to you, but Kyuubi-sama's chakra is too much for your little friend. Humans can't compete against foxes, dipshit."  
**Kitsu felt the need to share his not-at-all-appreciated opinion and Tenko wanted to snap at him, when a lightbulb went on.

"That's it! Duckling, try and keep the creep away. Sakura, use his fire ball to get close and smash the fucker's fucking face inside out." Tenko instructed the pre-teens. "I take care of Naruto."  
_'At least, I hope I do.'_

She took a deep breath and started concentrating on the wild fox chakra around them.  
_'Heads up, Kitsu. Your barrier will shine all night long.'_

With every controlled breath, Tenko took in more and more chakra, forcing herself to ignore the itch and heat radiating in her body from the intensity.  
'_I do it for Naruto. I do it for Naruto. I do it for Naruto_.' Tenko repeated her new mantra to not waver in her determination.

If she thought the preparation for the fox fire were hell, this was purgatory in the deepest pit of the devil's personal backyard.  
Tenko was sure her fur would combust any moment and she'd die right then and there. But it didn't happen.

The chakra flow lessened, Naruto's chakra cloak dissolved slowly and his fox-features turn back human. He grabbed at the fabric over his chest and took deep, painful breaths to calm down.

"I- I am sorry," the blonde pressed out and Tenko inched closer, leaning her head against his thigh, completely exhausted. She was about to reinsure her friend, when Sakura suddenly flew by, landing hard against the tree trunk.

Orochimaru had caught the girl in the middle of another attack and knocked her out before throwing her away like a doll, now focussed on Sasuke, who clutched at his shoulder. The bruised arm was hanging limp at his side, the shoulder clearly dislocated.

"I am surprised you fought so much, Sasuke-kun. Don't worry, you will like my gift." The Sannin grinned in such a way, even the sun would freeze over.

Tenko quickly checked on Sakura with Naruto who barely managed to pull himself to their friend. She was unconscious with a bleeding head, but the blonde boy found it to only be a scratch.  
Blue eyes went to Sasuke and their opponent and the fox could see the despair in the Uzumaki's face.

He wanted to help his teammate, but his body was beaten and bruised and the chakra overload took a toll on Naruto. Whatever potency of healing Kyuubi's chakra had on Naruto, right now it was too slow to enable him to move.

The summon felt like she had rocks in her stomach.  
Sakura was out, Naruto couldn't move anymore and Sasuke was weakened, too.

'_No. I already did my fair share today. I made a fucking fire wall. NO!'  
_Were Tenko in her human body, she'd pull at her hair and stomp on the ground in frustration and fear. She didn't want to go up against the crazy lunatic again. He scared her. He was too strong.

Tenko wanted to live a safe life away from violence and pain. She despised fighting. How exactly did she end up in _this_ situation again?

But this was Sasuke. The broody duckling with the strange brother complex and developing people skills. The little tsundere who just became accustomed to hugging. Whatever Orochimaru was planning to do to the boy, it was nothing good, Tenko was sure of that.

'_I don't even know if I can do fox fire again. Kitsu prepared everything. Oh god. Oh god.'_

The fox was still debated about her possibilities, when the Sannin's neck suddenly started to stretch and his head shot out towards Sasuke.

.


	23. Chapter 23

Reminder to Team 7 Rule Number 9:

9\. If you run into any problem with an opponent you are no match for, no matter who of Team 7 the target might be, run.  
9.1 If, and _only if_ you are a match for your opponent, you are to engage the battle."

* * *

'_We should have stuck to Team 7 rule number 9_!' the fox mentally cursed and when she saw the Sannin attack her duckling again, she was sure they should have.

Tenko saw the unnatural stretch Orochimaru's neck performed to reach Sasuke.  
Said boy tried to jump out of the way, his sharingan making him see the attack coming, but his knees buckled, and his legs completely gave out.

.

His eyes were still fixed on the oncoming danger, while his mind was racing, working triple-time. One of the snakes must have nicked his leg with their poisonous fangs. Shit.  
Sasuke did not have to turn his head to know his friend were at their limits, too.

No, not everyone. Tenko had just absorbed a ton of chakra. Why wasn't she helping him? She had the chakra for another wall of fox fire now. Why wasn't it there yet?

The sharingan deactivated, his chakra reserved depleted. Sasuke could not do anything but watch the creep's head with too long fangs come nearer and nearer. He tried to move again, but the poison had numbed his body too much.

Orochimaru had nearly reached him, a sick gleam in the Sannin's eyes as he was about to bite Sasuke.

Anger flooded the Uchiha's system.  
He was angry to be helpless. Angry for standing against this insane person on his own. Angry for being too weak. Angry to let his team down. Angry for letting the snake poison him. Angry at the damn fox for being such a scared shit and not helping him.

.

The snake Sannin was about to bite, his mind already celebrating his glorious future, when something sharp suddenly punctured his neck at the base of his head and pulled him down to the tree branch Sasuke stood on.

His teeth barely nicked the boy's skin without causing any harm, when the Sannin watched the tree branch come closer with rapid speed.

Orochimaru was not able to stop his teeth from getting rammed into the tree, sinking through the bark and being wedged in the hard wood, breaking his teeth right out of his mouth with raw force behind the collision.

The hold on his neck didn't allow the Sannin to turn his head – he had teeth buried in his flesh, the snake summoner realised - , but the deep, inhuman growl and a wave of malicious chakra made his hairs stand up. Instincts telling Orochimaru to get away from the source of the chakra and come play with it when his head was not held by sharp fangs around and in his neck.

.

Sasuke had watched what happened with wide eyes. Since his sharingan was not active, he hadn't seen the fox coming.  
All he was able to witness was a flash of red, then the Sannin's teeth were suddenly pulled away, and Tenko stood over the man's head, fangs buried in pale flesh, growling like a mad animal.

Whatever the pre-teen might have wanted to say, he forgot when he looked at the fox summon.  
Her fur stood up wildly, tails were twitching in an angry dance, her pupils were red and slitted the same way Naruto's were when the horrible chakra had wrapped itself around his teammate, saliva and blood dripping out of Tenko's mouth.

With another deep growl, too deep for the summon's voice, Sasuke watched the fox use a tiny but uncontrolled version of fox fire to burn Orochimaru's skin away. Naked flesh started burning, nerves and bones slowly dissolving, and Sasuke could taste bile rising up his throat.

Then the Sannin moved and replaced himself with a wooden log which got crushed by teeth and fox fire.

"**Pathetic,"** a deep, male voice left Tenko's mouth and her tongue cleaned her muzzle from their opponent's blood. Her eyes quickly darted around, assessing the situation and snorting in a mocking manner. **"When this body was under my control I didn't need a minute to kill cockroaches."**

'_What is going on?_' Sasuke looked at the stranger in his friend's body. No, wait. Tenko was the stranger in a summon's body. Could that be it? Was the original fox summon speaking?

Meanwhile, Naruto had barely recovered thanks to his fast healing and created three clones. One cradled Sakura in his arms, one helped the blonde pre-teen stand up, and the third one jumped over to Sasuke and helped his teammate stand up.

"Let's go. I don't know what happened, but we have to-," the Naruto clone stopped when he saw the fox. "Tenko, what happened to you?"

"**Do I look like that fucking lowlife to you?! Now, move! I will hold that snake fucker off, so you better take my master's prison and get him out of danger. Stupid humans, always overestimating themselves."**

The last sentence clearly was not directed to anybody, while the fox summon turned around and with no time to spare, fox fire shot out towards Orochimaru, forcing him to back up further and further.

Sasuke and the Naruto clone decided not to talk this one out right now, both barely strong enough to walk, and Team 7 went off to the tower as fast as the clones could go with their wards.

.

Orochimaru, safe to say, was pissed. All his information were wrong. Why use spies when they were too incompetent to spy on someone?

The fox was not half as useless as everybody said it would be, the pink-haired girl had perfect chakra control and could break bodies with chakra-enhanced fists (a terrifying reminder of a certain blonde female), the blonde brat somehow managed to use shadow clones and a couple of ninjutsu when he shouldn't perform a simple clone, and Sasuke Uchiha had a better control over his sharingan and emotions than anyone could expect from the sole survivor of the massacre.

It had resulted in one of his summon burning off its head, one getting defeated by the blonde container and one getting its jaw ripped off by the same culprit. The girl had broken his cheekbone with a single punch! And now, Orochimaru had a nasty flesh wound on his neck, burning his tissue away like flesh-eating bacteria.

Every time he tried to leave this body for a healthy, unharmed one, the damn fox blasted fox fire at him, which he had to evade. So, no time to leave this damaged thing.

What had happened to the summon, anyway? One moment, fear makes it freeze in place, the next it creates an altered version of its kind's special attack to protect the children. Then it runs off in fear again just to hide, allowing the Genin to possibly get hurt in their fight. And then its personality turns again, making it bite and burn Orochimaru with ferocious anger, and then following after him to blast of attacks.  
And people called him crazy and unstable.

The Sannin had to get to Sasuke and give him his mark, but every time he tried to use a jutsu or get past the summon, it attacked, appeared in front of him with sharp teeth, and every single time the Kyuubi's chakra lashed out and got in contact with the man, it burned Orochimaru's flesh off.  
Only his ability to leave this mangled body after the fight made it not as significant or unsettling as it could be.

A burst of chakra managed to burn the man's ankle and muscles away, making him fall of a thick branch. Fox fire hunted after his falling body, urging to erase the man out of existence.  
Finally having a second to perform a jutsu, Orochimaru disappeared in a pile of snakes and off to a secluded area in a much saver distance.  
He really had to get out of this body.

.

Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke were on their way to the tower, when the clones dispelled on accident. The blonde Uzumaki could not concentrate enough to hold them any longer and the two boys quickly caught Sakura's body, and hid under some giant tree roots. If Sasuke was hanging limply off Naruto while glaring at their new hide-out and mumbling the word "Roots" in disgust, nobody cared.

Naruto was barely able to move again and quickly got every medical kit out of their storage seals, searching for their antidotes to cancel out the snake poison in Sasuke's body.

Bless Sakura, she had packed a couple of antidotes including one for snake bites. Naruto gave it to his teammate and busied himself with their female friend's head wound. Scratch or not, an infection could be dangerous.  
Sasuke waited for the antidote to work its magic while instructing Naruto how to treat a head wound best, and the boys could not help it but bicker about who knew better.

They did not seriously want to argue, but it offered a short-timed escape from the events which had resulted in their hiding place.

They went silent, when the noise of someone's breathing reached them, and with kunai in their hands, both pre-teens could not do much more than wait for the attack.

Between the bushes the fox appeared and with a small sigh of relief, Naruto put his weapon away to tend to Sakura, while keeping an eye on his friend.  
He wanted to know what was going on, but they hadn't checked the perimeter for other people yet and Tenko gave another laboured breath.

She was back to normal, without the eyes and pure anger in her face. Assessing the situation, the fox sat down next to the Genin and gave Sakura a quick look.

"I can sense nobody around us. We are alone," she offered and then continued watching Naruto work.

Sasuke, sure to say, wanted answers, and the Uchiha had no patience left.

"What the hell happened back there? I thought only the dope could do this crazy fox-thing."

"Teme! Don't call it that! But yes, Tenko, what the hell?" Naruto finished his work and let himself fall against a big root to support his back.

The summon gave them an irritated look.  
"Did I suddenly turn into a fox expert or something? Kitsu helped me a bit with the fox fire wall, then you guys were fighting and suddenly the fight was over and I had to catch up with you guys. How should I know?"

"Wha- Tenko, you attacked that creep so we could get away. You- you looked like you were under the control of the Kyuubi when you started blasting fox fire at the snake bastard," Naruto used wild gestures while talking and both Genin were sure, would Tenko be a human, her face would be pale, judging by her shocked expression.

"No. No-no-no. No!" Tenko shook her head and backed off a few steps. "I clearly remember seeing that sick fuck attack our duckling and then we were running! or I was following after your scent."

"You don't remember the fight?" Naruto tilted his head.

"Naruto, sweetheart, I hate fighting. It frightens the living shit out of me. Do you seriously think I wouldn't remember if I jumped head-on into battle?"

"Yes," Sasuke said dryly. "But I think your prisoner was talking to me."

"My prisoner? Who- Oh." Tenko's face showed understanding which turned into shock, then worry. "Kitsu shouldn't be able to do more than move my chakra a bit. You know, like the fluctuations? The barrier keeps him in check! He isn't strong enough to overpower Kyuubi's chakra. He said so himself!"

The fox's voice grew louder and got more stressed out, her heartbeat loud in her own ears.

"You really don't remember what happened. … could it. I mean," Naruto hesitated, giving his teammates uncertain looks and kneading his fingers. "You absorbed a crazy amount of chakra when I started losing control and. I mean, I don't like the idea, but maybe it affected you? You were … not yourself."

Tenko did not know how to reply.

Team 7 might have come a long way since they were just a bunch of individuals not knowing how to deal with one another to becoming friends who more or less secretly cared, but they all grew tired of all the complications Tenko brought with her. This included the fox.

"Let's try breaking our brains over this when we are out of the forest and with Kakashi," Sasuke grunted, checking Sakura.

The antidote finally started working and Sasuke felt the numbness lesser with every minute. Taking a deep breath, he forced his body to stay alert for any possible danger while his system was working off the adrenaline. E  
xhaustion slowly covered the pre-teen's mind and he fought to keep his eyes open.

A look to his left showed Naruto was in a similar situation, propping his head on his hands to keep it up.

"God, I hate my problems", Tenko groaned and her eyes wandered over her Genin.

"Take a nap, you two. I will wake you up if someone comes near us," Tenko told the boys, making her voice sound more self-assured than she felt.

The fox was worried out of her fur for the fact she had no memories of her supposedly fight with a fricking Sannin, but even the blind could see her ducklings ran on fumes. Or sta on fumes.

Already admitting to herself for being a sucker for children, she wanted them to rest. The fact that nobody was around was another reason.

Both pre-teens had a silent conversation with their eyes, before Sasuke gave a "hn". A linguistic trait he didn't use as much with his teammates in favour for whole sentences, but it did its job.  
Naruto gave a short nod, they scooted over to Sakura, one on each side and with kunai at hand, and closed their eyes.

Tenko sat near the 'main entrance' to their temporary hide-out, senses enhanced and eyes darting to any visible movement.

'_Spill!_', Tenko said in her mind.

"**Spill what, lowlife? Your blood?"** Kitsu growled back, clearly pissed about something.

"You are hilarious, asshole. What happened? Like you don't know what I am talking about," she spat out loud, then checking the kids, but they were still asleep or unconscious.

"**I don't know **_**why**_** the fuck it happened, but one moment the barrier was pressuring down on me and the next it nearly dispelled. Kyuubi-sama's chakra flooded your damn simple mind and when I managed to get control over my body, you had that disgusting cockroach in my mouth.  
My master's chakra focussed on him so I obeyed his will and attacked the freak to protect his container. Now, leave me alone. I am tired!"**

Tenko could physically feel Kitsu cutting her off, like shutting a door in her face, and she had to control her breathing to keep calm. Not that she completely succeeded, but at least Tenko was able to lock her emotions away and replay all the information in her head over and over, trying to use logic to stay grounded.

As much as the fox wanted to leave all the crap behind and just go home, the ducklings needed her to check the area.

From what Naruto and Sasuke had said, Tenko managed to drive an injured Sannin away for long enough to escape. But seriously, how probable was it? A couple of Genin fighting off a god damn _Sannin_?!

Tenko felt the chakra levels in her body being low, not life-concerning, but a clear difference to before her blackout. Her throat and lungs felt slightly rough and tense.  
From what the boys had told her, the summon had blasted fox fire at their opponent, so, of course, her throat would be sore.

Taking another moment to check on herself, Tenko also noticed an underlaying anger still flowing through her system. Was this an effect from the chakra she had consumed? Or was it Kitsu? He had sounded pissed off.

Probably the first, since Tenko had been able to feel the rage against their attacker when she tried to prevent the Kyuubi from taking her lovely blonde over.  
Tenzo should be proud of her.

.

The longer Tenko sat next to her little humans, the stronger the soreness and pain in her body got. With the overtake of the Kyuubi's chakra, her body had gotten hurt. Nothing seemed to be bleeding, but the drain of her body's strength and stamina was catching up, as was the pain from overusing her muscles and from using the chakra's raw power for fox fire.

After only an hour, Tenko was sure every muscle in her body was screaming, she was hurting in places not found by medicine yet, and her lungs and throat only recovered enough for Tenko to know nothing had been burned to ashes.

.

It was around noon when a snapping stick made Tenko shoot up from the ground and peeking out of their hide-out, the fox saw two Genin teams enter the clearing near them.

One was from Suna with the scary red-head and Tenko was ready to cry. Couldn't life give her a break?  
The other one was a team the summon had not bothered to remember beforehand, but when sand started to slaughter them, Tenko felt sorry for them while fighting to not throw up from the cries and bones breaking. Or making any sound, really.  
The bodies were carelessly dumped into the bushes.

Terror made her blood freeze in her veins and the fox backed off further under the roots.  
'_Please, don't find us. Please, please, please_!' she silently prayed.

Then she saw sand dance through the air, coming closer and closer. Tenko stopped breathing, not a sound leaving her other than her rapid heartbeat, but just as the sand reached the roots, a gigantic caterpillar with fangs came crawling from over them and tried running from the sand.

The red-head must have gotten disinterested by it, because he deemed the creature unworthy of his time, and they went off to the tower.

Tenko waited until their smell was far enough gone and her lungs burned before she dared to breath again. Greedily, her body took in as much air as possible, so she did not notice the minimal movements Sakura made.

"Urgh," a sound from the pink-haired girl made Tenko refocus and quickly go over to her.

"Shh, sweety. It's alright," she said in a low voice, not wanting to attract any unwanted attention. "We are safe for now. How do you feel? Does your head hurt?"

Sakura carefully touched her temple and let her fingers run up the bandage to her wound. She pulled a face when she accidentally put pressure on it, but nothing started to bleed trough.

"I will survive it," Sakura gave a lopsided grin and then took in the view of her teammates flanking her sided in their deep sleep. "What happened?"

Tenko let out a long sigh.  
"You don't really want to know." But yes, Sakura wanted to know. The fox made an unpleased sound but did as the girl asked for.

"We fought the snake freak, then you were knocked out and Naruto was too exhausted from the chakra incident to get up. The duckling got some snake poison and – he is fine, thanks to your antidotes – the crazy madman tried to bite him. You should have seen how he stretched his neck and… on second thought, you don't ever want to _imagine that_.  
Then my mind went black, but the boys said I fought the snake Sannin off. Or Kitsu. The Kyuubi's chakra I took from Naruto might have been too much and Kitsu drove the freak off so you could get away. They I caught on to you and we hid here since then."

Sakura was a clever girl and she praised herself with her intellect, but all the things she learned back in the academy could not prepare her for the clusterfuck Team 7 was. Then her face lit up the slightest and a proud expression smiled at the fox.

"I broke a Sannin's cheekbone!"  
Tenko took the liberty to give an equally smug grin back.

"Congratulation."

They might not be completely out of danger, but both females could appreciate the massive development Sakura went through. From the dieting, Sasuke-obsessed fangirl to a badass Genin who managed some great teamwork and combo-attack to break bones from an outclassing opponent.

"This had to be the luckiest shot in shinobi history, because seriously, who would have expected anything from us, but we survived!"  
Sakura had both worry and pride written all over her face.

"We did," Tenko agreed with a half-smile, forbidding her mind to imagine all the bad outcomes.

"Those two are seriously deep asleep, Tenko. If anyone attacks us, I don't know if we manage to wake them up."

"Hm. Naruto should be able to get up. That fox seriously did a number on his stamina and strength with that chakra outburst, but he heals fast enough. I am not so sure about the duckling, though. The antidote does its job, it's just. The poison had enough time to circulate in his body and the cancellation takes a toll on him. And he exhausted his chakra reserves."

Sakura nodded thoughtfully and took two blankets from her storage scroll, prepping her teammates heads up for comfort.  
Tenko went back to check out the area with her senses, but they were still safe.

An hour went by in silence, Sakura doze off twice and the fox kept watch, when the pink-haired girl suddenly broke the silence.

"How are you so calm?"

"Hm?" Tenko turned to her friend.

"Well, you blacked out and attacked one of the three Sannin while the Kyuubi's chakra and Kitsu had your-his, whoever's body under control, right? How comes you are not freaking out?"

The summon let out an amused snort.  
"Sweety, I am scared out of my mind, but as much as I want to barricade myself back home, it isn't possible right now. I have the great gift of ignoring and repressing any and every worry for some time, until it catches up with me later on. And I tend to exploit this skill regularly since we became a team. Let's just say I have enough practice in this area to manage for now."

Sakura was not sure whether or not this should ease her mind, but she gave the fox a hug nonetheless.  
"You know we are here for you, right? You don't have to worry on your own."

"Thanks, kid."

.

When a Genin team from Sound appeared on the clearing near the hide-out, Tenko was more than surprised how she hadn't sensed them before.  
A gust of wind ruffled her hair and offered her a painfully obvious explanation.

'_They came upwind so I couldn't smell them. Clever._'

The trio looked as unlikable and unpleasant as they could get, taunting the 'stupid Team 7' for their useless girl and brainless blonde idiot.

"Oh, they are on!" Tenko hissed enraged, wishing they could limit this to a verbal fight but also wishing to bite their ankles. A great conflict of interests.  
Sakura tried to wake her teammates up, but both were still too far gone.

"Shit," she cursed and grabbed her storage roll. Sakura quickly got all her senbon, shuriken and kunai next to some wire, trying to form a battle plan while hectically preparing herself for another fight.  
"My chakra level is not high enough for ninjutsu, but those work. Can you buy me some time? I only need a minute."

Tenko disliked the request, but even in her logic tainted by fear she saw the necessity of it. She had stood up to a giant snake and even fought against a Sannin. She could buy her teammate a minute against some actual Genin. Right? _Right_?

Something in Tenko's mind screamed 'No' at her (as did her hurting body), reminded her of the high probability of dying which went against her plans for a future, but the fox also knew she had a higher chance of dying if those three attacked before Sakura could properly defend herself.

Letting out an exaggeratedly long sigh, the summon stood up and trotted out from under the roots.

On the clearing, she could see one of the boys' face wrapped up in gauze and bandages with long sleeves hiding his dangling arms, one wore a camouflage scarf and strange metal gear on his face and the girl's hair reminded Tenko of the Hyuga hair style.  
They had to be one or two years older than Team 7.

"Alright, you three. It is not very nice to talk bad about other people, you know? Especially, if those are my friends, because I tend to take those insults very personal."  
Tenko tried standing tall, well, taller than teenager-knee-hight, and she spoke with false confidence from her bluff at the written exam.

"Hah! Those losers seriously send out their summon to face us? They have to be even weaker than we thought!" The chick continued trash-talking Team 7 and the fox got more pissed with every passing second.

"My lovely humans can run you into the ground without even trying, sweetheart. I am their way of warning you stupid blockheads from your fall. Now, use your amoeban brains and fuck off."  
The fox gave her widest, toothiest grin and ran her tongue over her sharp fangs. They might not be the longest, but they could hurt and the warning was clear.

Sadly, Team Doofus disagreed and strange metal boy drew a kunai, which came flying at Tenko. The fox luckily was a pro at dodging by now thanks to Gai, and all the tree-walking exercises with Team 7, including Kakashi, throwing everything at her.

Tenko mentally tried counting all the stupid decisions she already made but stopped when the number went too high for her own liking.  
Running up at the teens, the fox came up with the only plan she could imagine with her non-existent repertoire of attacks.

Kakashi had tried getting the fox to use her teeth in a spar with him, which never really worked out with Tenko's hate for violence and hesitation to use her teeth as a weapon (ignoring the few occasions back when Sakura could test their sharpness).  
Now, she felt like a stupid kid for complaining. The copy-ninja had done his best to actually help the summon and prepare her for the world but her stupid ass was too self-absorbed to notice. He really deserved an apology for her behaviour.

Right now, Tenko had two options. One, be an ankle biter and do everything to give Sakura enough time to fight back, or two, let them hurt her kids.  
Since option number two was out of question, the fox took a deep breath and with swift motions she dodged her way through her opponents offence.

Older than Team 7 or not, Team Doofus was still young and nowhere near Gai's or Kakashi's level of taijutsu, making it painfully easy to dodge their limbs and get closer and closer to hurting them.

Forbidding her mind to think too much, Tenko jumped at the neared leg at bit as hard as she could.

A male cry of pain erupted from her victim, blood started staining the pantleg, and when it reached the fox's tongue, she nearly gagged.  
The coppery taste was disgusting and Tenko felt dirty from the inside out for inflicting pain to another being, for puncturing their flesh. He was just a child, a teenager who wanted to become a Chunin.  
But this person also wanted to hurt her lovely blonde, her team. So fuck pity.

This thought helped Tenko to throw her head around, ripping skin and flesh open and biting a second time, before jumping out of the way.  
The girl with Hyuga hair had tried to stab the fox, but quickly stopped in her movement before accidentally hurting her teammate.

"Ah! Fuck! It bit me," strange metal boy cursed loudly and put pressure on his bleeding leg. The teens took a step away from their small, red attacker.

Meanwhile, Tenko's feelings fought their own battle. One side held fear, disgust and resentment against herself for using violence, for fighting, for getting herself in danger. She had just done the exact thing she disliked in the life of a ninja and what she had judged all the people around her for.  
On the other side Tenko felt pride, a sense of righteousness, and strength for protecting her friends.

Absorbed in her inner turmoil, the fox didn't notice the bunch of shuriken flying towards her. When she did, her eyes grew wide and Tenko could do nothing more than count all seven spinning weapons.

With perfect precision the same number of senbon collided with the shuriken, redirecting their course and leading them away from the summon.

Sakura stood at the entrance to their small hide-out, body in a post-throwing position and eyes focussing on their opponents.

"Don't you even think about hurting my team," she said, her voice stronger than Tenko would expect and a self-assured gleam in the girl's green eyes.

'_Damn, she is good'_, Tenko thought with new-found respect for her skills. '_Well, after all the weapon throwing they did for me to learn tree-walking, it should not surprise me, but still!_'

Sakura and Naruto had benefited the most out of the humans of Team 7 in this exercise. Naruto had improved his stance, how to hold his weapon, and therefore, hitting his target.  
Sakura, sweet Sakura, who had no physical abilities to shine with at the beginning, was on par with Naruto and Sasuke by now. She had practised the most with the fox and improved so much.

Standing straight with her shoulders rolled back and her short hair wild from the previous fight, Sakura stood like the small warrior she had become.  
The furious expression reminded Tenko of their days in the colour dimension just before she'd kill a giant boar with her punch or have another emotional breakout, and the fox visibly cringed at that reminder. The girl could be scary.

Team Doofus had no clue about the potential danger they were in, but Tenko also had no qualms to leave them in their oblivious state. It would give them a tactical advantage, because Team 7 had portrait themselves as the obviously clumsy bunch of children they were only a few months ago.

_To look underneath the underneath_ possibly wasn't something their opponents had been taught, so Sakura and Tenko had to play their cards right to have a chance.

Team 7 rule number 9 was something the females could not do right now.  
Sakura was not strong enough to carry both boys and Tenko couldn't even dream to carry one of them.

This left them with fighting, and judging by Sakura's determination, she would fully go out on the Sound ninjas.  
Tenko spat out to get the blood out of her mouth but mentally prayed to leave this fight in one piece. Fighting was inevitable, as much as the fox hated it, but for her blonde Uzumaki, for Sakura, and for the duckling she would do it.

There was a moment of stillness before everybody moved.

In this moment Tenko laughed at herself.  
She had been between a rock and a hard place all along, but until now she had refused to acknowledge it.  
Whatever plan she had made to have a future, to live a long life, to be with Naruto, to have protection, to stay out of danger – to not fight was no option.

This world was a stage for fighting, killing, and surviving with as many people as possible.

.

Sakura and Tenko worked side by side.  
The girl deflected weapons, and traded punches and kicks, while Tenko dodged around them, distracted their opponents, and did her best to use her teeth.

To anyone knowing the fox for more than an hour, it was painfully obvious how much she disliked biting the Sound Genin, how disgusted she was from the lingering taste of blood in her mouth, how repulsed she was to bite again and again.  
But she continued, putting holes into hands, arms and legs before those could hurt her friend.

Sakura used all her training and experience to dodge the attacks, silently thanking the crazy-ass animals from their dimensional trip for the unintended training drills.

Not to toot her own horn, but Sakura was impressed how well the duo did against the other Genin. The girl and boy with the strange metal plates showcased a number of bleeding punctured holes in their limbs. The chick was not able to hold or throw weapons anymore with how often Tenko actually managed to get her hands and fingers between her sharp teeth.

The bandaged teen still stood on the side lines, occasionally throwing a kunai when Sakura or Tenko would get too close to him, but he only observed with an unsettling spark in his eyes.

Tenko had just managed to catch the girl's hand once again and stopped an attack against the pink-haired pre-teen, when a sickening cracking and ripping followed by loud screams interrupted the fight.

The chick cradled her hand, blood flowing through hands and fingers, and Tenko started gagging while crawling on her own throat.

Then she lost whatever was stuck.  
Bile and the last bits of their breakfast landed on the ground and in the middle were two fingers.

Sakura's eyes darted from the fingers to the female Sound nin, to her bleeding hands and back to the bile-coated fingers.

"I think I am going to be sick," Tenko pressed out and she started dry heaving.

"You bit off my fingers," the chick screeched with shock and pain in her voice.

"You didn't stop attacking, you damn bitch," the fox said between the gagging noises.

Sakura quickly assessed the situation.

Tenko seemed to be near collapsing, her movements had gone stiffer the longer they fought. Sakura suspected over-exhaustion, and now the summon also was bodily sick from the severed fingers.

The chick and her teammate couldn't really use their hands anymore thanks to Tenko's teeth. The chick also had some wounds from Sakura's weapons in regions where her core muscles were. The guy had some trouble using his right leg thanks to the bite wound and Sakura had managed to break the same leg with a punch.  
Their third teammate hadn't engaged in battle, so he was still fit.

Sakura herself was utterly exhausted by now. Her precision with her weapons slowly decreased and her head was pounding, giving her difficulties to concentrate. Her chakra was low, and her muscles were screaming for a break.  
She also did her best to ignore her ribs, which were hurting from that damn snake. It might not have bitten her, but that damn summon had put pressure on her torso with its jaw. Before Naruto had ripped it straight off, that it.

Suddenly Sakura caught a movement in the corner of her eye and she tried to use a replacement jutsu, but she had started to late. That bandaged fucker had used the distraction to attack.

A kunai went straight at her, but just before it touched Sakura, something green shot out of the bushes and kicked the weapon away.

.

"I promise to protect you to the best of my abilities, lovely blossom!" Lee declared loudly and stood protectively in front of Sakura.

As much as the girl wanted to cringe at the strange teen, she was more relieved and surprised to see him to care about the too bright smile he quickly send her way.

"If you could keep bandage-boy away from us, that would be great," Tenko said hoarsly.

"Of course, honourable summon-san! I will protect you both and your team from this most unyouthful opponent!"

"That is… very- eh, youthful of you," the fox said with hesitation, but it earned her a beaming smile. This seemed to be the right response.

A fury of green attacked the third Sound ninja and said teen dodged and countered as fast as he could, but Lee was faster.  
He landed a couple of splendid blows while Sakura used the last of her strength to knock out the injured Genin pair with two quick chakra-enhanced punches.

She fell on her butt in exhaustion, breathing loud and laboured, and her back was supported by a tree, while Tenko basically crawled her way onto the girl's lap, her head limply hanging down from a thigh.

"Damn, he is good," Sakura admitted while watching the fight.  
Rock Lee was not good, he was great, but the girl was too tired and felt boneless to correct her speech.

Tenko weakly nodded and had to dry-heave from the movement.  
"Go, get him, tiger."  
Sakura lightly nudged the summon in good humour, but didn't protest any further.

When bandage-boy missed a hit but still grinned like a nutjob, Sakura frowned at his behaviour. He had tried the same thing three times already, but every time Lee had deflected or countered the attack. Why was that bastard grinning now?

The answer came a moment later, when Lee's legs gave out, his ears started bleeding and the poor teen threw up.

"B-but I dodged your blow," he said with a trembling voice, just before a fist collided with his face and a shockwave pushed Lee down on his back.

"You cannot dodge sound waves, idiot. I ripped your eardrums and your body is imbalanced. If you thought I was on the same level as those two, you are wrong!" The bastard grinned again and basked in Lee's pain and struggle to stand up.

Another 'missing' blow made Lee stagger and throw up, his ears still bleeding.

Sakura tried to get up, but her legs only spasmed and gave out again. Tenko also tried to get up, but she fell flat on her nose after a couple of steps. Her muscles couldn't keep her standing from the straining fights and previous chakra overload.

Bandage-boy reached back for his final blow, when a flash of blonde sped at him and a knee collided with his face. He flew against the next tree, red staining the white bandages and a sick gurgling sound escaped his mouth.

A harshly breathing Naruto stood in front of Lee and his face was… the blonde boy's expression was scary, furious and deeply angered. The fact that he might have broken more than the Sound nin's nose did not seem to bother him at all.

The blonde Uzumaki quickly lost his anger when he turned to Lee and concern filled his eyes.

"Hey, are you okay, bushy brow?" Naruto slowly helped Lee into a sitting position, while his eyes darted over to Sakura and Tenko. He couldn't find any new blood on Sakura's clothes. "How are you two?"

"Just tired," Sakura pressed out with a wry grin and Tenko nodded.

"I am hurt and sick. Of fighting, of getting hurt, and of biting!"  
Naruto pulled Lee over to the roots and then helped Sakura and Tenko over. He had just cradled the fox in his arms, when he noticed the blood covering he snout and dying the white fur on her chest.

"You are bleeding," he cried out in worry and started searching for wounds.

"Naruto. Naru- ouch! Stop moving me! Na- Stop it!" Tenko tried escaping his arms, but her friend sat down, pulled the summon on his lap and continued searching.  
"It's not my blood! Ouch! It's. Not. Mine!"

"Oh," Naruto said, his hands letting go of flailing paws and sky-blue eyes looked over to the Sound Genin. "You actually fought?"

"She did," Sakura said with a praising tone in her voice. "Tenko managed to bite off two fingers from the chick!"

"It was horrible," the fox said in disgust.

"I- I don't know if I am proud of you or worried," Naruto admitted.

"Be both," the pink-haired girl said and wiped the blood from Lee's ears with trembling arms.

"Thank you so much, dear blossom! I- Ah, I will have to wait for a proper confession as I had promised to summon-san. This is most unyouthful of me," Lee started ranting with a painfilled voice.

"You have to sit still and heal," Sakura quickly stopped anything that could develop into youthful blabbering.

"Someone's coming," Tenko suddenly hissed and Naruto was just about to create a ton of clones, when they saw Lee's teammates jump from the trees.

Two pairs of eyes darted around the clearing, took everything in and the girl, Tenten, came over.

"Geez, Lee-kun! Why did you suddenly ran off?! We have to get to the tower!" The brunette had her hands on her hips, but her expression softened when she was which state Lee and their fellow Genin were in.

"But, Tenten-san, I had to keep my promise and protect Sakura-san! Ah, not that you need any saving, Sakura-san! You are more than capable of defending yourself with your overflowing youthfulness, but I could not allow myself to just let you get hurt!"  
Lee wildly gestured but quickly stopped, when his face grimaced in pain and he had to hold his head.

"Lee-san was hit with soundwaves and he started bleeding from his ears. His balance is off and he will be in pain for some time."  
Sakura took the liberty to inform his teammates of his injuries.

"Thank you, then. We have to go, though." Tenten and Neji both took hold of one of Lee's arms to support his weight. "Goodbye."

.

Naruto bound and gagged the Sound ninjas, getting dangerously pale when he tied the mutilated hands of Hyuga-hair-girl and strange metal boy. The blonde Uzumaki inspected the severed fingers while poking them with a stick.

"Seriously, Tenko. Kakashi-sensei will so no believe this!"

Sakura had filled him in on the fight, making Naruto give both proud pats on their shoulder/head for the job well done and for protecting him and 'the teme'.

"Not like I will demonstrate it for him," Tenko mumbled and watched Sakura get some ration bars from her storage seal.  
The trio ate them in silence, while Naruto let Tenko absorb a bit chakra. He hasn't completely recovered yet, but the summon's reserves were too low for her to just continue their trip to the tower anytime soon.

Sakura also ate a soldier pill to boost her body and support her self-healing. Tenko had argued she'd wait for the Kyuubi's chakra to heal her muscles and throat, which still burned and hurt a bit, but even after the chakra donation it wasn't enough to heal her.

"Just eat the damn pill, Tenko," Sakura said and pushed said object into the fox's face.

"I can wait until I get more chakra to heal me."

"We have to get going as soon as Sasuke-kun wakes up and he _will_ eat one, too."

"Sakura-chan is right. You would be dead weight to us," the blonde boy plainly said.  
He knew it was a bit rude after the big step his friend did to participate in actual fighting, but Naruto also knew about the importance of them getting to the tower. Orochimaru could still be around.

Tenko sighed loudly in a Nara-fashion and eyed the object in Sakura's hand warily.

"Defeat is a bitter pill to swallow," she said and ate the thing with disgust written over her face.

Sakura shook her head and face palmed. "You are still not funny, Tenko."

"Urgh. I beg to differ."

"Just ask Kakashi-sensei, he is honest."

"He is biased, because nobody is more entertaining to watch than Gai."

Naruto and Sakura both shook their heads.

.

After Sasuke woke up and was forced to eat the soldier pill, they waited for its effect to happed before packing their few things.  
The Uchiha gave the roots a last angry glare coupled with a disgusted expression and off they went to the tower.

Tenko used her senses to keep them out of everyone's way and when they finally reached the tower, Sakura and Naruto quickly fell into a sprint.

Sasuke and the fox entered after them and everyone gave their own celebrations.

"Hey, why is nobody here?" Naruto looked around and then frowned at the writing on the wall. "Is- is that a poem?"

Sakura quickly read the lines and, being the smarty-pants she was, quickly figured out what they had to do.

When the scrolls were opened, Iruka suddenly appeared, just as surprised as Team 7 was.

"What the-?" Tenko looked at the man, who still held a piece of chalk as if he wanted to write something down.

"Oh, my. You finished earlier than I- Holy hell, what happened to you?!" Iruka cried out, running around the pre-teens and inspecting their bloodies, ripped clothes, and wounds.

"We were attacked by Orochimaru!" Naruto said matter-of-factly. Iruka nearly fainted.

"You what?" His voice was hoarse while every colour left his face. "Don't joke about something like that, Naruto!"

"But he didn't, Sensei!" Sakura pushed herself between them. "That snake creeper really attacked us! And he had those huge snake summons!"

"Yes! And he wanted Tenko's and Sasuke's bodies! But we killed the snakes and managed to escape!" Naruto joined in.

"Exactly! And then those Sound Genin attacked us, but Tenko and I fought against them! Oh, and Tenko bit off some fingers!" Sakura gave the fox a pat on the head, which said summon was not entirely comfortable with.

"It was disgusting. They got stuck in my throat."

Iruka was dumbstruck in confusion, worry, and cluelessness.  
"What do you have to say about this, Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn." There was a short pause. "It's true."

"Maa, it sounds like you had an exciting day, my cute little Genin," Kakashi suddenly piped up from behind them, making everyone scream.  
His eye-smile was as fake as it could get and he nodded at the Chunin.

"Thank you for welcoming those little terrors, Iruka-sensei. I will take it from here."  
As quickly as possible, without making it obvious that Kakashi was in a hurry, the Jonin led his team into a large examination room with many beds.

Immediately, some medics checked the pre-teens over while Kakashi watched his Genin carefully. As soon as every wound was dressed, Kakashi shooed the medics away.

"I'll show you the room you can rest in, then we talk."  
The copy-ninja said those words like a threat, but the kids could see the concern in his eye. They allowed him to manhandle them again into a room with three beds to the walls. A small table stood in one corner and they had a small bathroom connected to the main room.

Kakashi quickly pushed the kids on one bed, took the only chair in the room and sat himself in front of them.  
Sakura and Sasuke immediately leaned against the wall in the back while piling the pillow and blanket behind their backs for comfort. Naruto copied them after he had pulled the fox into his arms.

.

Kakashi saw the exhaustion written on his students' faces, and as much as he wanted them to change their clothes, sleep and recover, he wanted to know what the hell happened.

He gave his kids enough time to cuddle against each other and collect their thoughts, before the light interrogation began.

.

Sodomy and Paedophilia. Those were some of the first terms Kakashi got confronted with when his students started talking.  
Sakura and Naruto talked at the same time and Kakashi could only catch some phrases.

"-wanted their bodies-"  
"-burned its own head off-"  
"-biting teme-"  
"-chakra took over her body-"  
"-basted him away-"  
"-bit off fingers-"  
"-Believe it!"

"Stop. Stop, stop, stop, stop, STOP!" Kakashi held his hands up and got his chatterboxes silent. "I need a chronological description and I want everyone's version. And only _one_ of you will talk, not two at a time. Sasuke, you are first."

The Jonin managed to get four versions of their unpleasant encounter with the snake Sannin. Sasuke could tell him the most about the fight against Orochimaru, Naruto and Sakura helped him to get the details straight and Tenko added her _conversation_ with Kitsu.

Now Kakashi could understand where the comments about sexual intercourse with animals and children came from. It did not make the event any better or less serious and worrisome, but the Jonin understood and explained the Sannin's possible intentions for experimentation.

Then the kids told him about the fight against the Sound Genin, and how Sakura and Tenko worked together, which made Kakashi very proud.  
He even ruffled Tenko's fur for fighting, willingly 'forgetting' his own warning from the morning to the fox.

Yes, Kakashi had expected the summon to fight for the children. Well, he might have doubted her effectiveness and how long it would take Tenko to protect them, but the copy-ninja knew enough about her to be sure that her affection and love for the chaotic trio would win over the fear of death.

Probably.  
Some days he could predict the summon's behaviour and thoughts to the 't', other days her desire to live and the selfish actions she took still baffled him.

.

Kakashi then let his little Genin fall asleep on a pile of blankets and pillows. They didn't even bother getting into separate beds anymore.

Sakura was sleeping in the middle with her head resting on Naruto's shoulder, both her their legs intertwined.  
Sasuke rested on Sakura's stomach and his lower half somehow managed to top his teammates' legs. One of Naruto's hands were gripping Sakura's shirt, the other was buried in Tenko's fur.

The fox was cuddled around Sasuke's head on Sakura's stomach with three different hands holding on to her.

The Jonin silently pulled out a small camera and made some photographs.  
He would brag about his cute students later on when he would meet the other Jonin instructors. And maybe use this for blackmailing.

.

Tenko woke up slowly with sleep heavy on her mind. She blinked to focus her eyes and noticed that her head resting on dark hair. Three weights on her body made her guess that they all fell asleep together, which was natural by now.

Carefully untangling and freeing herself from the kids, the fox sneaked out of bed. The chair and other beds were empty. Maybe Kakashi had something to do?

Tenko walked into the bathroom to relief her bladder. Just because of the forest around them, she did not have to behave like an animal.

When she re-entered the bedroom, Kakashi was already back, sitting on a bed in the opposite corner of the children.  
Their eyes met, and the fox saw the seriousness in Kakashi's body posture.  
He stood up and shooed the fox back into the bathroom, closing the door behind them.

Without a word he started filling the bathtub, and Tenko remembered the dried blood in her fur with disgust.

"Tenko, it is time we have our talk, and-," he took a moment to take a deep breath. "- judging by the most recent events, I don't know how safe those three will be around you if you keep avoiding me."

.


End file.
